


Sizeism Matters

by aguyofmanythings



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Discrimination, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23059015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aguyofmanythings/pseuds/aguyofmanythings
Summary: Jane Fitzgerald and Lola Loud want to prove that even chubby ballerinas can do well. Originally by TheLoudArtist15.
Comments: 1
Collections: TheLoudArtist15's Stories





	1. The Tryouts

In Royal Woods Park, Lola Loud and her plump pageant friend Jane Fitzgerald are on their way to ballet practice as they are wearing their typical ballerina attires and carrying their pink ballet bags. The ballet practice that they are headed, though, is different from the usual ballet practice that they usually attend.  
  
"Ah, ballet. The most fun way to show off your skills, grace, and beauty while getting some good exercise," Lola told the readers. "As you all can guess, Jane and I are headed to ballet class, but what you all don't know is that we're not going to the practice we usually attend. We're actually going to attend tryouts for the upcoming Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship! Isn't that exciting?!"  
  
"Exciting indeed!" Jane agreed, facing Lola. "Shouts out to Mrs. Dufresne, our ballet teacher, for recommending us to try out for the championship."  
  
"You said it, Jane!" Lola then faces her attention back at the reader. "In case you're wondering why Jane and I were the only ones that Mrs. Dufrense recommended to join the championship? Well, because Jane and I are the top two ballet dancers in our class! With Jane being the top ballerina! And ooooh boy Jane knows how to dance!"  
  
After saying that, the scene transitions into a flashback of Jane performing her ballet recital in front of her ballet class and Dana, and Lola wasn't lying or exaggerating when she said: "Jane knows how to dance." Jane performs every ballet move imaginable and never messes up not even once! She performs the assemblé, grande jeté, plié, pirouette, and tour en l'air gracefully. Then, she makes a leap and straightens both legs into a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in midair before landing and twirling before stopping in an attitude position with her leg raised behind her body and bent at a ninety-degree angle. As the performance ended, the young ballerinas, especially Lola and Dana, all began clapping for Jane. Still remaining in an attitude position, she makes a bow at her class. The flashback finally ends there.  
  
"Yep," the thin princess told the reader. "If Jane gets accepted into the championship, she'll definitely win for sure."  
  
The two young ballerinas reached the gymnasium where the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship are supposed to take place. The gym is filled with, unsurprisingly, lots of little girls wearing their ballerina attires; many of them, to Lola and Jane's surprise, are diverse in body size and weight, and height with many of them being tall, short, thin, or chubby. They are also of different ages as most girls range from as young as four to as old as nine; this did not come as a surprise for Lola and Jane as the flyer Mrs. Dufresne showed them the other day did say that the people behind the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship are accepting girls between the ages of four to nine.  
  
The ceiling of the gymnasium is decorated with a pink banner that states "Welcome, young potential ballerinas to the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship!" painted in white. There are also decorations of balloons that are of colors pink or white. Even the entrance to the gymnasium is decorated with an arch of pink or white balloons. Lola and Jane can't help but feel impressed by the decorations, feeling welcome to the tryouts.  
  
"Woah. Look what they've done to the place," said Lola.  
  
"You've said it girl. This place looks...amazing! If not, wonderful!" Jane commented.  
  
"Excuse me? Are you two girls here for the tryouts?"  
  
Lola and Jane are approached by a woman who looked about thirty years of age. She is wearing a blue, sparkly dress with a transparent long skirt that revealed the bottom part of her long, thin legs. Surrounding her waist is a black belt with a cornflower on it. She has white and grey hair with a style similar to Mrs. Dufresne. She is also of a slim, hourglass body type with slightly big breasts. Sure enough, she is pretty good-looking.  
  
"Uh, yeah we are," Lola responded to the woman.  
  
"Well, my name is Mrs. Damocles, your ballet instructor," the woman introduced herself, speaking in a French accent. "And you two must be Lola Loud and Jane Fitzgerald. I've heard from your previous ballet teacher that you two are the top of the class, especially you, Ms. Fitzgerald.  
  
"You know, Mrs. Dufresne?" asked Jane, curious.  
  
"Oui," confirmed Mrs. Damocles. "I've known her for about a month now since moving here to the United States from France, and we have so much in common! We both love ballet, beauty pageants, etc! We also teach ballet classes, and after hearing a lot about you both from Mrs. Dufresne I just had to welcome you both!"  
  
"Wow!" Lola exclaimed.  
  
"Awesome!" said Jane.  
  
"You girls will love it here! Since this is a championship, you will compete with the other beautiful ballerinas for first place! Obviously you will bring out the best of your ballet skills as you leap through the air and feel the soft breeze blow on your face. The girl with the most impressive ballet performance will win first place, a trophy, and a trip to see a ballet performance in New York City!"  
  
Words cannot describe the excitement Lola and Jane are feeling throughout every fiber of their bodies. It had been their dream to travel to the city that never sleeps. They can imagine themselves shopping in the malls and observing the famous landmarks of New York City. Jane is the most elated because not only is New York City one of the places she plans to travel to when she finally becomes an adult but is also the place where her mother and father met for the first time. This is the dream Jane always had, and it may become true if she wins the championship.  
  
"I can't believe it! I'm going to New York City if I win the championship!" Jane exclaimed with utter excitement.  
  
"I know! My family always wanted to go to New York! This is our big chance to finally go there!" said Lola.  
  
"If you girls really want to go to New York that badly, then I suggest you two take the chance by trying out now. I'm curious to see how well you two ladies will perform."  
  
And with that, she turns her back and walks away, but before fully turning around Mrs. Damocles shoots Jane a look of dissatisfaction for a split second before returning to a look of content. Jane, though it lasted for a very short time, took notice of the unsatisfactory look and grew confused. Lola, however, did not take notice as she is too excited to notice.  
  
"Oh my gosh! This is like a dream come true! New York City! The city that never sleeps!" exclaimed Lola.  
  
"That was weird," uttered Jane.  
  
Jane's comment snapped Lola out of her elated state. "What was weird?"  
  
"Was it just me, or did that lady just look at me funny?"  
  
Lola was a bit puzzled by Jane's accusation. "What are you talking about? She looks happy to me."  
  
"Yeah," the plump princess admitted, "but for a split second she gave me this weird look as if...she isn't too impressed with me."  
  
"I didn't see any weird looks flash at you," reassured Lola. "Maybe you're just worried that you may lose the championship and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel to New York City, but don't worry Jane. You're one of the best ballerinas I've ever met! And a chubby ballerina at that! You'll do great!"  
  
"Yeah. Maybe you're right," Jane finally gave in.  
  
"Good! Now come on! We got tryouts to attend!"  
  
Lola and Jane then began approaching the group of young ballerinas waiting for the tryouts to start. While on her way, the thought of Mrs. Damocles flashing her that look came back to Jane's mind. She could've sworn she gave her a look of dissatisfaction. Did she secretly despise her or something? If so, what did she do to make her dislike her? Jane tried to forget these thoughts, but they always come back. Maybe it'll be best if she just ignored them and not think it had something to do with her.


	2. Too Big?!

"Alright, everyone! Places!" Mrs. Damocles ordered all young ballerinas.  
  
The girls, including Lola and Jane, all huddled together close to the ballet instructor to listen to what she has to say.  
  
After the whispering among the girls grew silent, Mrs. Damocles started her announcement, "Welcome to the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship! As you all know, it's a ballet competition where girls ages four to nine perform their beautiful ballet performances! Since this is a competition, each girl is nominated or eliminated based on how well the performance went. Each ballerina will be eliminated until one is left, and that one remaining will be the winner of the competition! Not only does that lucky ballerina win a huge, golden trophy, she also wins a plane ticket to New York City!"  
  
A wave of excitement hit the girls after Mrs. Damocles mentioned the trip to New York City for the second time. It's been a dream for many of these girls to visit the city that never sleeps, but none of them are more excited than Jane Fitzgerald. Just hearing the mentioning of New York City again brought Jane's elation levels to its all-time highest. If she wants to win that plane ticket, then Jane must try her hardest to earn it which is not a problem since she is a very talented ballet dancer.  
  
After the excitement calms down, Mrs. Damocles resumes her announcement, "Now, with the description of the competition out of the way, let's talk about the tryouts. Like in the competition, some of you girls will be eliminated since I only have limited space for my class; ten to be exact, and there are about twenty-five of you girls here, so fifteen girls will be eliminated and ten will be accepted based on your performance."  
  
A sense of worry grew among the ballerinas. They all have been so excited about competing in the championship that they never thought that fifteen of them will be rejected due to the limited space Mrs. Damocles has for her class. Without a doubt, so many girls will have their dreams about going to New York City crushed if they are rejected, so they really need to try their hardest if they want to achieve their dreams. Jane, however, is not feeling any peck of worry because she is confident that she will be accepted into Mrs. Damocles class. No doubt the ballet instructor will be impressed by her ballet performance.  
  
"These are the judges," Mrs. Damocles points to the people sitting at a table meters away from her. One of them, a nervous man wearing a grey suit and a blue tie, waved at the girls as he sweats anxiously. "They are the ones responsible for recording the scores for each of you depending on your performance. The girls with the top ten highest scores will be accepted into my class and into the competition." The instructor takes a few deep breaths after talking too much. "With all that said, shall we start the tryouts?"  
  
And with that, the girls, including Jane and Lola, cheered with excitement. The moment they all been waiting for has finally arrived.  
  
"Great! Now who wants to go first?"  
  
The excitement immediately turned to nervousness after Mrs. Damocles asked that question. Remembering what Mrs. Damocles said about fifteen girls being rejected and only ten being accepted, the girls grew nervous about going first fearing that they might get rejected. Even Lola, despite being the second-best ballerina in her previous class, grew worried about being rejected. Some of these girls, besides Jane, could perform better than her, and there is a possibility that she might not make it to the top ten. Jane, on the other hand, did not feel even a tiny peck of worry. She is confident that she'll be one of the top ten. To her, her ballet performance is foolproof. There is no way she will be rejected. Chances are low. If she is rejected, then those people have problems.  
  
"I'll go first," Jane finally spoke up, feeling as confident as ever.  
  
"Oh, you want to go first?" Mrs. Damocles sounded a bit surprised. "Well...okay then. Why don't you stand right here and begin when you're ready?" She pointed at the black X between the judges' table and a background of Japanese pink blossoms.  
  
"With pleasure," Jane casually walks past the girls, her confidence levels at its highest. Many of the young ballerinas are shocked that Jane isn't feeling a tingle of nervousness as if she knew the judges will accept her no matter the circumstances. Lola, however, isn't too surprised as she knew Jane will perform to the best of her ability. Jane is considered by Dana Dufresne to be the best ballet performer in her class to date, so Lola has faith that Jane will be accepted into the competition. _You got this, Jane_ , Lola said mentally, smiling proudly at her chubby friend.  
  
As Jane stood on the X, she faces the judges and shoots them a determined look, letting them know that she won't let them down. Mrs. Damocles walks to the table and sits down on an empty chair, waiting for Jane to begin her performance. As the plump ballerina turned to look at her future ballet teacher, she couldn't help but notice a familiar look on her face. It's the same face Mrs. Damocles flashed at Jane for a split second when she first greeted her and Lola. It felt as if she isn't happy to see Jane perform. Jane felt really confused about this, and a bit creeped out. Was there a grudge Jane had not known about? Are Mrs. Damocles and Mrs. Fitzgerald in some form of rivalry? Did they secretly hate each other? What is it? Jane shook her head, trying to forget about it. That is not important. What's important is her ballet performance. Maybe her performance would cheer up Mrs. Damocles, hopefully.  
  
Jane takes a deep breath before finally starting her performance. The choreographer, who is sitting on a piano next to the judges' table furthest to the left, began playing _Moonlight Sonata_ by Ludwig von Beethoven as soon as Jane began her performance. Jane slowly lifts her right leg up and bends it behind her body to a ninety-degree angle in an attitude position. Then, she brings her leg back down and makes a small leap, straightening her legs to one hundred eighty degrees, before landing on both feet and making three complete twirls before pausing. Next, she slowly slides her feet along the floor in opposite directions and gradually descends towards the ground before landing softly. Jane had performed a split. After that, she lays on the floor and rolls her body a bit to the left before slowly standing. As Jane stands, she lifts her left leg as high as she can. Then, she puts it down and begins twirling and leaping towards the right back to her previous position. Next, the most extraordinary part occurs: Jane makes a huge leap and twirls in midair, lifting her right leg to ninety degrees before landing and performing so many ballet moves any ballet expert can think of. Jane's spectacular performance awed the judges and most of the girls, including Lola. The only person that is not impressed is Mrs. Damocles. She yawned at Jane's performance like she was watching a very boring movie.  
  
After Jane performs many more impressive ballet moves, she finally ends her performance with a split. The judges, the choreographer, and the young ballerinas began clapping and cheering for Jane. A content smile crept up to Jane's face, knowing she performed well. Suddenly, the applause was interrupted by the sounds of slow clapping echoing throughout the gym, sounding almost sarcastic. Everyone turned their attention to the clapping to see that it was Mrs. Damocles who was making those slow, sarcastic claps, looking as unimpressed as ever. Everyone, especially Jane, stared at the instructor in complete and utter confusion. Did she not enjoy Jane's performance? The ballet teacher then directed her eye pupils toward Jane as she had something to say to her.  
  
"Impressive. Very impressive," Mrs. Damocles did not care if her tone was laced with sarcasm. "That was an excellent performance, but I'm afraid that wasn't enough to impress me unlike everyone else here. You're rejected."  
  
Those two awful words shattered Jane's heart into millions of tiny pieces. If felt like an arrow piercing through Jane's heart. Jane stood there in complete and utter disbelief as those two words echoed throughout her mind. The confidence Jane felt before her ballet performance immediately vaporized into nothingness. The judges and the other ballerinas, especially Lola, are just as shocked as Jane was. Lola could not believe what she just heard. Jane got rejected? How? How was this possible? Her performance was flawless! Why did she get rejected?  
  
After remaining silent for what seemed like forever, Jane finally spoke up, "What?! H-h-how is this possible?! Didn't I perform to the best of my ability?! T-t-the judges didn't even say what my score was yet! Heck, everyone else here had not got their scores yet because they didn't perform yet! I thought some of us will be rejected after everyone received their scores! So why am I rejected?" the pudgy pageant queen sounded like she was on the verge of crying.  
  
"Hmmm…" Mrs. Damocles began to think as she placed the pin of her pen on her chin, "how should I say this?" She paused for a bit. "Let's just say...you don't fit the proportions of a typical ballerina."  
  
"And what does that mean?" Jane asked, sounding mostly confused and a bit upset.  
  
"In other words...you're too big to be a ballerina."  
  
Everyone, especially Lola, gasped at the words that were uttered right out from the ballet instructor's mouth. If Jane's heart wasn't shattered into a million pieces before, then it would've shattered after hearing such a comment. Jane was completely and utterly horrified as she stared at Mrs. Damocles in utter disbelief. Even Lola herself is shocked, though she knew that what Mrs. Damocles just said is mostly true. On television and dance performances, the pageant queen had seen ballerinas that are thin and can perform well, so for a while she believed that ballerinas have to be skinny in order to perform perfectly and gracefully, but all of that changed when she first saw Jane perform her ballet recital perfectly and gracefully despite her larger body size. The myth that all ballerinas are thin is nothing but a myth, at least the small part of it. So hearing Mrs. Damocles mention the ballerina stereotype to justify her rejection of Jane despite her flawless, spectacular performance is not only shocking to Lola, but also a disgrace to the other few large people that are also ballet dancers. For Jane, her disbelief slowly turned to indignation. Rejecting her from the start is one thing, but rejecting her solely because of her bigger body size is another.  
  
"Now listen up, old lady!" Jane snapped. "Did you not just see my flawless performance?! I performed perfectly and gracefully! I've been practicing for weeks! And you're just gonna sit here and reject me all because I'm not thin?!"  
  
"Yeah!" Lola stepped forward, approaching Jane to support her while flashing an angry stare at Mrs. Damocles. "It's not fair Jane is rejected from the competition just because of her size!"  
  
Mrs. Damocles is unfazed by the two angry girls standing a foot away from her. "So, you girls are not aware of the ballerina's standards, hm?"  
  
"What?!" said Lola and Jane.  
  
"Have you heard of the ballerina 'stereotype'?" Mrs. Damocles asked, making quoting gestures when she said "stereotype."  
  
"What about the stereotype?!" Jane demanded.  
  
"Well," the ballet instructor began, eyes glaring at Jane, "what you see as a ballerina 'stereotype' is actually standards for a ballerina body. The people that claim that ballerinas are stereotyped for having thin bodies and long legs are liars. A thin body with long legs is not a choice, it is a necessity. You see, ballerinas have to be slim in order to perform perfectly and gracefully. Don't have a slim figure, then you'll lose the championship, so why bother putting the fat ballerina in my class?"  
  
Jane and Lola couldn't believe their ears. Is this lady just going to ignore the fact that Jane, despite her larger weight, performed her recital flawlessly? Not only that, but she has the audacity to refer to Jane as a "fat ballerina;" even though it's true it still sounds offensive and, obviously, sizeist.  
  
"Are you blind, lady?!" Lola exclaimed, now angrier than before. "Did you not just see Jane's performance?! You're 'ballerinas have to be slim in order to perform well' statement is nothing but bogus! And you know that because you saw it with your own eyes, lady!"  
  
Mrs. Damocles directed her eyes towards Lola, growing a bit irate, but still maintaining her happy composure. "Young lady, the reason why I rejected your friend because if I let her into my class and into the competition, then other young ballerinas who will enter next year's competition will think that it's okay to be fat and won't even bother achieving the standards for a ballerina body, therefore defeating the purpose! Also, why are you defending her if you achieved your ballerina body yourself? I mean, look at you! You have a slim body and long, thin legs! You're perfect! If you're the one who just performed, then I would've picked you."  
  
"EXCUSE YOU?!" Lola is now just down-right upset. "How dare you compare my body to hers! I mean, I do have a perfect body, but so does Jane! Now you're just fat-shaming Jane, and I will not let you get away with it!"  
  
"Yeah!" Jane agreed. By this point, she is the most indignant she has ever been. She may have experienced discrimination based on her weight before, but this is the worst she has ever experienced. This is the last straw. "I will report you to the authorities and file a discrimination report. What you just did is a violation of my rights, and I am NOT having it!"  
  
It was at this moment that Mrs. Damocles had enough. These girls are starting to get on her nerves, and she needs to get rid of them as soon as possible. "You know what? FINE! If you girls don't want to face reality, then why don't you just leave?! And you're banned from any of the future ballerina championships! I am done with BOTH OF YOU!"  
  
"You know what? FINE BY US! We rather want to be banned from every ballerina championship than have a fat shamer as a ballet teacher!" Lola exclaimed angrily.  
  
And with that Jane and Lola exit the gymnasium and started walking home. Mrs. Damocles watched them go, not feeling any remorse or guilt. She felt that what she did was justified.  
  
"Um, are you sure what you did was right?" the male judge asked nervously. "I mean, the plump girl did feel a bit hurt by your comments on her weight."  
  
"Of course I'm right, Joe!" replied Mrs. Damocles. "We ballet instructors have to enforce body standards on our ballet students. I mean, this country is already suffering from an obesity problem, and people like that Jane Fitzgerald girl are just gonna make it worse. All I'm doing is helping her, and she doesn't want to accept it. Ungrateful little girl, or should I say...ungrateful big girl."  
  
"Noted," said Joe.  
  
Mrs. Damocles suddenly stood up, returning to her happy composure, and approached the girls.  
  
"Okay ladies, with those two undisciplined brats out of the way, why don't we resume our tryouts? Also, if you're overweight, then you're not qualified to be in my class and the competition, so you may leave." Mrs. Damocles said with a smile.


	3. The Plan

"And that's what happened!" Lola told her siblings as they listened to the beauty queen's story of the incident with Mrs. Damocles. Jane stood next to Lola, feeling understandably upset about the incident. The Loud siblings, who are sitting on the family couch, are in complete shock at what they just heard from Lola and Jane. They did not expect such discrimination to occur with one of their friends as a victim. They can only imagine what they would've felt if they were in a situation similar to Jane's. After sitting there in silence and aghast, most began condemning the ballet instructor for her derogatory actions towards Jane while a few started feeling bad for Jane.

"Way harsh," commented Luna.

"What was that ballet teacher thinking?!" Luan exclaimed in shock.

"Why was, like, that teacher so mean?" wondered Leni, distressed.

"I wonder how she didn't get fired? She should get fired!" exclaimed Lynn.

"I...am...literally...speechless," uttered Lori, still appalled.

"The ballet teacher actually said those things to Jane?!" Lincoln questioned, feeling disbelieved.

"Of course it happened, Lincoln!" Jane replied, still upset. "Why would we lie about something like this? Plus, we wouldn't be here if that teacher didn't fat shame me."

"Good point," the white-haired Loud admitted.

"Hmmm...it seems that Jane had become another victim of discrimination," said Lisa, adjusting her glasses.

"Of course I was, Lisa," Jane scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? Also, I thought you were into science."

"I am, but I also specialize in sociology, the scientific study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society, including social problems such as discrimination and prejudice."

"Wait," Lana began, "I thought discrimination occurs against a race, or ethnicity, or gender, or people from other countries."

"True," Lisa admitted, "but discrimination isn't limited to race, ethnicity, gender, or national origin. It extends to any human group categorization such as age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and, of course, size; Jane here is a victim of size discrimination or sizeism."

"Sizeism? Like 'racism'?," Lori commented.

"As strange as it is, categorizers have a habit of coining all terms that describe any form of discrimination with the suffix 'ism'. Ageism, colorism, audism, anti-Semitism, racism, lookism, etc. However, we can also conclude that Jane is a victim of other forms of discrimination related to sizeism such as weightism (discrimination based on weight), fatism (discrimination against overweight or obese individuals), or lookism (discrimination based on an indivdual's physical appearance)," the intelligent Loud explained.

"Woah. Never knew there was discrimination against fat people," said Lana.

"Well…" Jane thought, "I prefer sizeism because Mrs. Damocles did say I was too big to be a ballerina, and big is a size."

"And speaking of sizeism," Lisa resumed, "it is the fourth most prevalent form of discrimination; heck, Sizeism is more prevalent than racial discrimination. There are many reasons why size discrimination is so widespread, but the two main factors are beauty standards and the media. Let's start with beauty standards. With the 'ideal thin body' being constantly shoved into our conscious minds, our contemporary society is lead to believe that being 'beautiful' means being thin; as a result, overweight and obese individuals are commonly ridiculed for being 'physically unattractive.' Of course, this beauty bias also contributes to lookism."

"Going with that logic, it's funny Lola defended Jane since she believes in this beauty bias," Lana claimed.

Lola and Jane both gasped at what Lana just said. Jane then shoots Lola a dirty glare, causing Lola to awkwardly look away and sweat nervously. After remaining silent for a few moments, Lola finally admits it.

"Okay! Okay! I admit it! I fell for the beauty bias and thought being beautiful meant being thin, but that was before I met you! I swear!"

Jane rolled her eyes in response.

"And secondly," Lisa went on, "there's the media, also known as television, movies, books, novels, social media, etc. Many body-positive activists often blame the media for contributing to the societal weight stigma because it often features stereotypes typical of overweight individuals; stereotypes such as overeating, lethargy, and only eating unhealthy food. Overweight individuals are also often targets of comedic punchlines in the media; in other words, the media uses weight stigma as an excuse to mock overweight characters."

"Hmm...now that you've mentioned it," the pink princess spoke, "Lana and I have seen many cartoons where fat characters are often portrayed as always being hungry and not doing any exercise as they always lay in bed or sit on the couch watching TV and eating bags of chips."

"Exactly my point," said Lisa.

"Wait," Lynn spoke up, "aren't those fat stereotypes true? I mean, the reasons why fat people are fat is because they eat a lot of junk food and don't exercise enough, isn't it?"

"Well...I'll admit. The stereotypes are half-true," Lisa admitted, "but they are also half-false. Remember, stereotypes are often inaccurate and overgeneralized. Recent studies conducted by the Center for Consumer Freedom showed that being overweight and active is healthier and leads to a longer lifespan than being thin and inactive. Weight does not determine an individual's health. Though, it's true that being really obese can lead to health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease, but by doing exercise those health problems can be largely controlled." Lisa looks at Jane. "Jane, I assume you are active, right?"

"Yes I am," Jane confirmed. "I perform ribbon dances and ballet recitals. I mean, I do move around when I dance, so technically I am doing exercise."

"Great, so I can conclude that you are somewhat healthy," stated Lisa.

Jane smiles proudly.

"And speaking of physical activity," the nerdy Loud went on, "it is the lack of physical activity that is the main factor of contributing to obesity, not overeating. There is no evidence that there was an increase in caloric intake among youths, meaning that it's a lack of exercise that has increased."

"Ah. Now I get it," said Lynn.

"Sadly, the overweight stereotypes and beauty bias are forever ingrained in society, and so many individuals, especially overweight ones, have to suffer because of it. If only we could do something to change it."

"Lisa's right!" Lincoln finally spoke. "We have to do something about this! We can't let that ballet teacher get away with her sizeist, or weightist, beliefs! She'll just use them to unfairly reject other young girls that are also chubby!"

"Lincoln's right!" Jane exclaimed. "Ever since I was four, I've dreamed of becoming a ballerina, but I thought I could never do it because I'm chubby. On television and plays, I've only seen skinny ballerinas with long, thin legs perform, and with my plump body and short, chunky legs, I thought it was impossible for me to become a ballerina." Then, happiness crawled up to Jane's face as she says, "That is until I've seen a YouTube video of a fifteen-year-old ballerina who was bigger than I am, but had performed eleven fouetté turns perfectly! I was both impressed and shocked. I thought no overweight person could do such a thing, but here I am watching a chunky teen girl perform her fouetté turns perfectly! This girl helped me build confidence and inspired me to become a ballerina. And here I am! Jane the best ballerina in Royal Woods!" the Fitzgerald's happiness then faded back to sadness as she said the following, "So hearing that fat-shaming teacher unjustly reject me so early in the tryouts solely because of my weight really hurts. I know I've dealt with this before, but this is the first time my skills have been rejected because of my size." Finally, Jane breaks down crying as she can no longer hold the negative emotions inside her own body. Lola pats Jane on the shoulder, feeling really terrible for her.

The rest of the Louds all felt bad for Jane. They can only imagine what Jane felt when she was rejected solely because she is overweight. After remaining silent, Lincoln finally spoke up again.

"As I said before, we can't let that teacher get away with this! We need to expose this teacher as a fat shamer so we can get her fired!"

"Right! I know being literally overweight is unhealthy, but that is not an excuse to literally ruin someone else's dream! I mean, it's not like Jane is unhealthy!" said Lori.

"But how are we going to do that?" Lucy asked. "Lola and Jane are banned from entering any future ballerina championships, remember?"

"But what if we sneaked in?" Lincoln said, squinting his eyes. "We can sneak in, and one of us will have to ask Mrs. Damocles questions that will expose her true colors and capture them in a hidden camera."

"Hmm...I like the sound of that," Lisa said, making her creepy face as she clasps her hands and rubs them.

"Okay, here's how we'll do it!" the siblings and Jane huddled next to Lincoln as he explains his plan to expose Mrs. Damocles as a sizeist, or weightist depending on how the reader views the discrimination. The smiles on the sisters' faces indicated that they liked and approved of Lincoln's plan.

As the white-haired Loud finished explaining his plan, he said, "So, are you guys in?"

"We're in!" the sisters and Jane shouted with exhilaration.

"Lola. Jane. Are there any chances that the tryouts are still going on?" asked Lincoln.

The two girls look at the clock, which says three o'clock, and then turn back at Lincoln.

"Sorry, Linky, but the tryouts are already over. They end at three o'clock, and it's already three o'clock," Lola stated with Jane nodding.

"Aw dang it! I was hoping we would execute this plan now!" Lincoln complained. "Oh well? Maybe we'll do it tomorrow then. When does the first day of practice start, anyway?"

"Tomorrow after school," replied the pink-attired beauty queen.

"Great! So we'll meet at the park gym tomorrow after school, so we can finally get this plan over with. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"Remember, we're not only doing this for Jane. We're also doing this for the other little girls that are potentially going to be prejudged based on their size or weight, so we're going to fire that teacher so other girls won't have to suffer a similar fate to Jane's."

The sisters nodded in agreement. And with that, the sisters went to do their own things. The only people in the living room are Jane and Lola. Jane looks down at the floor and sighed sadly as if no hope was left for her.

"Is something wrong, Jane?" Lola asked, concerned.

"It's nothing. It's just that, is your brother sure his plan is going to work? I mean, what if Mrs. Damocles finds out? We could get into a lot of trouble for it," explained Jane.

"Don't worry, Jane," Lola reassured. "My brother knows what he's doing. I know that my brother's plans don't always work, but that shows he is willing to help others with their problems. Trust me. If you had Lincoln as a brother, you would understand what I'm talking about."

"You really mean it?"

Lola nods. "Now what do you say we get some ice cream?"

"Diddo!"


	4. Spreading the News

A day had passed since the sizeist incident at the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship tryouts. At Royal Woods Elementary, the school bell rang indicating the start of lunch. At the school cafeteria, Jane is eating her lunch alone at the table where she usually sits down to eat lunch with her friends. She has a dejected expression on her face as the memories of the incident with the fat-shaming ballet teacher still plaguing her mind. Never would she ever think that such an incident would occur to her. Yes, she had people poke fun at her weight, especially Lacey St. Clair, but those people who teased or bullied her were kids; she had never expected a full-grown adult to judge her based on her weight. Before the incident, she believed that all adults are mature enough to not bully or judge others based on their appearance, but Mrs. Damocles' weightist beliefs proved her wrong. Jane also remembered what Mrs. Damocles said about the "standards for a ballerina body" that ballerinas have to have a "slim frame and long, thin legs" in order to perform perfectly and gracefully. Thinking about those partially false statements reminded Jane of how, two years ago, she thought she could not become a ballerina because of the body standards, and now her dream of becoming a famous ballerina is on the line again.  
  
As Jane took a bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Lola and the other pageant kids came over with their lunches and sat down on the table with Jane. Lola sat next to Jane on her right, Winston sat next to Jane on her left, and the rest occupied the remaining space of the table, placing their lunches down. They greeted the chubby, brown-attired princess, not noticing her forlorn expression yet.  
  
"Hey, Jane!" Roxanne greeted happily.  
  
"How's your day, so far?" asked Jackie.  
  
"Good, I guess," Jane replied forlornly.  
  
Jackie and the other girls, except Lola, were confused by Jane's sad reply at first, but then they remembered what Lola told them during recess and now know why the plump princess is feeling this way.  
  
"Oh. I get it. So you're still upset about the...incident, huh?"  
  
"Huh?" Jane gave Jackie a puzzled stare.  
  
"Lola told us about what happened at the tryouts yesterday," said Chinah. "I gotta say, the things that teacher said about you are plain disgusting and rude!"  
  
"Yeah!" Patty agreed. "That teacher should be fired!"  
  
"And speaking of fired, I wondered how that teacher didn't get fired in the first place for saying such insulting terms!" Claudette complained.  
  
"Maybe she's the boss of the championship," Rhonda theorized. "Y'know, like the hedge honcho? The person in charge?"  
  
"Or maybe her boss wasn't around?" added Sally.  
  
"Either way, you need to file a report against that ballet instructor!" Alfred demanded. "If she thinks she can pursue her career with that mentality, she'll just judge other girls that are your size, or bigger!"  
  
"Yeah! Those poor girls will have their dreams of becoming a ballerina crushed if they are judged by their body size or appearance!" warned Alex.  
  
"Sure, being overweight is unhealthy, but judging someone for it is wrong!" exclaimed Chinah.  
  
"For your information, Chinah, Jane is technically healthy. She eats healthy and does exercise in the form of ribbon dancing and ballet, and judging by Jane's medical history I received from Lisa, Jane is not suffering from any health problems caused by her weight. Weight doesn't determine a person's health, Lisa would say," Lola explained.  
  
"Well…" Chinah began to feel nervous, "if you put it that way, then yeah. I agree with you."  
  
The girls then turn their attention back at Jane.  
  
"Lola also told us about her brother's plan to get the fat-shaming teacher fired if no one else is going to do it," said Winston.  
  
"And we would like to ask you if we could join in if that's okay with you," Alfred suggested. "I mean, it's okay with Lincoln."  
  
"Yeah! I would like to see that teacher bawl her eyes out when she finds out she is fired for being the fat shamer she is!" exclaimed Jackie.  
  
Jane let out a monotone sigh, and then finally spoke after remaining silent for a while, "Thanks for your offer to help, guys, but are you sure the plan is going to work? What happens if it fails? I mean, if something goes wrong, then we'll definitely get chewed out for good, or even end up in court if we did something really wrong."  
  
Lola places her hand on Jane's shoulder. "Have you forgotten what I told you yesterday? The reason Lincoln creates these plans is because he likes to help people."  
  
"Yeah. I know that, but why does he want to help me?" asked Jane. "I mean, I barely know him, and he barely knows me. Why does he care about me so much?"  
  
"Because," Lola explains, "he knows how important your dream is and how people like Mrs. Damocles can permanently damage or flat out ruin it. I mean, you want to become a ballerina, right?"  
  
"Yeah," the plump pageant queen replied.  
  
"Then follow it! Don't let people like Mrs. Damocles stop you from following it! Dreams can come true, right? So follow it! And don't let people get away with their prejudiced beliefs! If they don't stop, then you have friends to turn to!"  
  
"Because we're here for you, Jane." Chinah exclaimed, placing her hand on Jane's other shoulder. "Friends support each other, no matter what!"  
  
"We will bring justice to that prejudiced teacher!" added Jackie. "She'll see who gets the last laugh!"  
  
This brought a smile towards Jane's face, replacing her gloomy frown. Even during times of weight stigma and discrimination, Jane still has friends she can go to. If Jane is judged or discriminated against based on her size or weight, her friends will support her no matter what and will bring punishment to those who bullied Jane or their other friends for it. Jane is proud to have such supportive friends who are nonjudgmental and care deeply about her feelings and dreams.  
  
"Thanks, girls," Jane said gratefully, smiling for the first time since the beginning of the day.  
  
Unbeknownst to Jane and her friends, a certain someone had eavesdropped into their conversation. Someone who is sitting in a small table not that far from the table where Jane and her friends are currently sitting at. Someone who listened to every word the girls uttered. Someone who is a classist snob. Someone who is competitive in dog shows and boosts about how her dog Victoire is the most classy dog in town. That someone is Lacey St. Clair. Lacey is known by the entire school as "the school bully," or "the spoiled brat," or both depending on how a student views her. Lacey is viewed this way because she thinks she is the best person in the world all because she is rich, and she views herself as the prettiest and most talented girl in school. As a result of her classist, narcissistic mentality, Lacey is known to bully others she views as "ugly" or from a lower social class. She also ties her classist beliefs with other discriminatory beliefs as she views people of a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, sex, height, weight, disability, etc. as poorer and "uglier," also making her a racist, homophobe, sexist, lookist, ableist, and, of course, sizeist. Sadly, Carl, Adelaide, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Darcy, and especially Jane are victims of Lacey's ruthless bullying solely because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, social status, personality traits, or weight. Because of this, she currently has a strong beef with the Loud twins and their friends, but that won't stop Lacey from being the bully and spoiled snob she is.  
  
After hearing about the plans to get Mrs. Damocles fired for her fatist beliefs, Lacey smirked as she just thought of a plan of her own.  
  
 _Well, well, well. Looks like Little Miss Piggy had been rejected in the ballerina tryouts because of her weight_ , Lacey thought to herself. _Good. Ballerinas should be skinny in order to perform well, right? That should send a message to that fatty that she needs to lose weight, but unfortunately she just won't accept the truth and turned to her friends to help her get the teacher fired for being a "fat shamer" when in reality she is told that she's fat and needs to cut down on the calories, and rightfully so for the sake of her health. Well, let's see about that, Jane_.  
  
Lacey giggled evilly. Whatever she has in mind won't be good.


	5. Before Sneaking In

An hour has passed since the end of the school day. Normally, the Loud siblings would be at their respective school clubs in their respective schools with their friends at this time, but today they are not. Instead, they are going to help one of Lola's friends receive the justice she truly deserves due to being prejudged based on her weight by a certain body size-conscious, prejudiced ballet teacher. The siblings have to come up with a good excuse to leave their friends behind in their clubs. For example, Lori had to tell her sports-club friends that she can't attend the club due to some urgency that occurred at home and had to be there. Of course, these excuses are pure lies. There is no emergency that occurred at home. Instead, the emergency laid on one of Lola's friends.  
  
After an hour of planning at home, the siblings as well as Lola's pageant friends, Carl, and Adelaide finally arrived at the dance room building in the middle of downtown Royal Woods where the practice for the ballerina championship is currently taking place. The Louds also brought certain tools that will be useful for the mission they are about to take part in.  
  
"So, this must be the place where ballet class is taking place," Lincoln said to Lola.  
  
Lola looks at her flyer and then at the building. She pays real attention to the numbers that represent the building's address. She then looks back down at her flyer and nods.  
  
"Yep. This is the place. The address matches perfectly."  
  
Winston looks up and down at the building, inspecting it. He has a feeling that he had seen this building before, even feeling that he had entered inside it with Lola at some point in the past.  
  
"Hmmmm... This building looks familiar."  
  
After scrutinizing the edifice once more, he finally remembers what it was.  
  
"Aha! Now I remember! It's the same dance building where Lola and I practiced for the dance competition a few months back!"  
  
Lola looks at the building again and realizes what her Prince Charming was talking about.  
  
"Oh yeah! This is the building! No wonder it looked familiar!"  
  
"Now that you guys literally mentioned it, this is the same place where Bobby, Leni, Chaz, and I helped Winston and Lola practice their tango, flamenco, and slow dance," Lori elaborated, staring at the edifice.  
  
"Oh yeah! I totes remember now! It was totes a fun time," said Leni.  
  
"And it's also the place where those rude, terrible, and disgusting boys ruined our dance practice," Chinah said disgustedly, remembering how terribly Rusty, Zach, and Liam danced terribly and even ruined Claudette's skirt.  
  
"Bleagh! Don't remind me," said Jackie.  
  
"Sorry to ruin your great memories of this dance building, but it is now in possession of that prejudiced fat-shamer," Jane reminded her friends, her voice laced with disgust.  
  
"And speaking of the fat-shamer," Lincoln began, "do you guys remember your roles?"  
  
The siblings and pageant children, except for Carl and Adelaide, nodded in agreement.  
  
"What about you two?" Lincoln asked the Hispanic boy and mixed-Asian girl, noticing that they did not nod.  
  
"I don't know how to say this," Carl said, rubbing his arm nervously along with Adelaide, "but not everyone knows their plan."  
  
Lincoln looked confused. "What do you mean not everyone knows their roles in this plan? Everyone nodded except for you two."  
  
"Well you see...we told our families about your plan, and well...they want to help, too," Adelaide admitted.  
  
As soon as Adelaide said "families," the Casagrandes and the Changs appeared behind Carl and Adelaide. Their facial expressions conveyed that they want to help Jane, too.  
  
"We've heard about what happened to Jane," Ronnie Anne began.  
  
"And that's messed up," added Sid.  
  
"Shaming you for being fat. Hmph! What a very rude and inconsiderate lady. It's like me shaming a person for gaining weight due to eating my cooking on a daily basis," stated Rosa.  
  
"I didn't gain weight from eating your food, Mrs. Casagrande," Jane told Rosa.  
  
"And since I am a ballerina myself, I will never judge another based on their body size," claimed Frida. "Everyone is beautiful no matter what size they are. The art of body diversity itself is beautiful."  
  
Lincoln felt overwhelmed. More people wanted to join his mission to fire Mrs. Damocles and bring Jane justice, and they didn't know their roles yet. It looks like he will have to extend some roles to other people and even create a few new ones for the others.  
  
"Woah. That's a lot more people, and they don't know their roles yet! Welp, I guess I have to create a few new roles and extend some to other people," Lincoln muttered to himself.  
  
"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" the white-haired Loud shouted, catching everyone's attention. "Since we have new people who want to help, I will have to assign new roles and even extend a few others to new people. So here are your new and revised roles: Luna and Mr. Casagrande (Hector), you two will be the choreographers. That way, you'll limit the suspicions from Mrs. Damocles."  
  
Luna and Hector nodded in agreement.  
  
"Lana, you will be the carpenter. You will pretend to be fixing the stage so class doesn't start yet."  
  
"Got ya covered!" Lana said, flipping her hammer.  
  
"Mrs. Casagrande (Frida), you'll be the questioner. You will ask the ballet teacher questions about the so-called 'ideal ballerina body;' that way, you'll expose her true colors and the people inside the vents will record it."  
  
"I'm so ready to expose her as a fat-shamer," said Frida.  
  
"Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide, you four will sneak through the vents and record everything Mrs. Damocles says while answering Frida's questions, especially the ones that expose her sizeist beliefs."  
  
"On it!" Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide exclaimed as Lisa held up her long-stick microphone and recorder.  
  
"Rosa, you will be the chef. You will cook food for the ballet students to distract them. Who knows if they support Mrs. Damocles."  
  
"I thought you'd never ask," Rosa said, flipping her cooking utensils.  
  
"Leni and Chinah, you will be the tutu designer. Rosa will pretend she dropped one of her food on the ballerinas' tutus, so it's likely that they'll come to you and ask you to make a new tutu."  
  
Leni nodded while smiling, giving Lincoln a thumbs up. Chinah just gives a confirmatory smile.  
  
"And the rest will keep an eye out for anything that might endanger our plan. Consider yourselves lucky that you have Lynn, Lola, Jane, Jackie, Claudette, Ronnie Anne, and Sid who know self-defense."  
  
The rest of the people nodded confidently.  
  
"Just leave it to us to beat anyone who might interfere with our plan," Lynn said confidently.  
  
Lincoln takes a deep breath, tired from talking too much. "Phew! That's a lot to throw out. Anyway, anyone have any questions?"  
  
Everyone all nodded no.  
  
"Okay then. Shall we get this plan started?" Lincoln punched his other hand, smiling triumphantly.  
  
"Yeah!" the other Louds, Lola's pageant friends, the Casagrandes, and the Changs cheered with exhilaration.  
  
"Then, LET'S GO!"  
  
Luna, Hector, Lana, Frida, Lisa, Lucy, Carl, Adelaide, Rosa, and Chinah all ran off while the rest, including Leni for some reason, remained. The ditzy blond remained in her place, looking down at the sidewalk in sadness. Lori, who is standing next to Leni, notices Leni's sad expression and feels concerned.  
  
"Is something a matter?" the oldest Loud sibling asked.  
  
Leni sighs sadly, "I feel so bad for Jane."  
  
"I know, Leni. We all do. That's why we're all here to help her receive the justice she deserves."  
  
"I know, but, like, thinking about it reminds of a similar situation Chaz and I are facing. You know, the mean comments and everything?" the blondie explained.  
  
"Oh. You mean that?" said Lori. "Now that you mentioned it, this literally is similar to what you and Chaz are dealing with, but don't you worry. We'll deal with that after we deal with that body-shaming teacher."  
  
"Promise?" Leni asked.  
  
"Promise."  
  
This made Leni feel a bit better, but not too much better. She does make a small smile though, trying to forget the situation she mentioned regarding other people's thoughts on her relationship with Chaz. The ditzy blond then runs off to catch up with the others while Lori watches her, smiling.  
  
As Lori and the others stand on guard, a certain rich girl is hiding from them from the other alleyway. That girl is the classist school bully herself, Lacey St. Clair. She had followed the families towards the dance building. Lacey stares at the guards, smirking. It is clear that Lacey is planning to ruin the Louds' plan.


	6. Sneaking In

Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide are currently crawling inside the vents of the dance building where Mrs. Damocles' ballet class is taking place. Their shorter height and smaller body size made it possible for these children to fit inside the vents. Lisa, who is in the lead followed by Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide, is holding a device that is displaying an electronic map of the ventilation system of the building as well as showing a blinking red arrow portraying the presence of the children and a group of red dots tracking the presence of the ballet class, making it easier for the nerd, goth, Hispanic boy, and mixed Asian girl to find them. The child prodigy is also wearing a headset to keep in contact with Lincoln and the others waiting outside the building and let him know what is going on.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Carl asked impatiently, looking exhausted. "My arms and legs are getting tired of crawling," he complained.  
  
"Get used to it," Lucy told Carl, feeling a bit annoyed though maintaining her usual gothic voice. "This is nothing compared to me crawling through the vents of my home to write my poems and enjoy the darkness."  
  
"Don't fret, dear acquaintance," Lisa reassured, looking at her device. "According to my tracking device, we should reach the room where the ballet class is taking place by about…"  
  
The children come across a vent going towards the right. Lisa looks at the vent to see a fenced-off seal on the bottom part of the vent presumably leading to the room where the fat-shaming ballet instructor's class is currently taking place.  
  
"...now," the intelligent four-year-old finished her sentence.  
  
Lisa crawls toward the seal, followed by the rest of the children, and looks down, seeing the young ballerinas in line formation and holding each other's hands while Mrs. Damocles walks back and forth across the room and lectures her class. Knowing that they found their target, Lisa presses a button on the left side of her headset, turning it on.  
  
"Elder male sibling," Lisa spoke on her headset, referring to Lincoln, "we found our targets."  
  
Outside the building where the rest of the group are waiting, Lincoln is on his headset, speaking to Lisa.  
  
"Great. Do you have the microphone and recorder ready?" the white-haired middle child asked.  
  
Lisa looks behind at the children and sees Lucy holding up the microphone attached to a stick and Carl holding up the recorder. The microphone is connected to the recorder via wire which is coiled around the stick.  
  
Lisa, speaking to her older brother via headset, confirms to him, "Affirmative. The microphone and the recording are ready."  
  
Lincoln smiles, knowing that the recording group is equipped and ready, but it suddenly shifts to a surprised look as his headset is suddenly yanked out of his head by Jane. The chubby pageant queen puts the headset on and speaks to Lisa.  
  
"Lisa, quick question. What do the girls look like?" asked Jane.  
  
Lisa looks back down the seal and takes a better look at the girls before speaking to Jane on her headset, "All of them are wearing a pink ballerina attire. They are also all slim in body size and shape as well as tall in height, but they vary in skin colors from light-skinned to dark-skinned. There are also no girls with disabilities and possibly no girl who identifies as a transgender."  
  
"Ugh," Jane scoffed disgustedly. "Thanks, Lisa." She then presses the button, turning off the headset.  
  
"What'd she say?" Sid asked curiously.  
  
Jane faces Lola and sighs before saying, "Lola, remember at the dreadful tryouts that there were many girls from ages four to nine that varied in body types."  
  
"Now that you've mentioned it, there were. Thin girls, chubby girls like you, short girls, tall girls, and disabled girls. And I think one of them was transgender as I remembered one of them looking a bit like a boy. What about it?"  
  
"Well, from what Lisa told me, all of the girls are skinny. No chubby girls, no short girls, no disabled girls, and no transgender girl."  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" Lola said sarcastically.  
  
"Wait, so Jane isn't the only one that was wrongfully rejected?!" Ronnie Anne asked, looking shocked.  
  
"I'm afraid so," the plump princess confirmed.  
  
"So not only is that dumb teacher a fat-shamer, but she is also a heightist, ableist, and possibly a transphobic!" the pink-attired pageant queen exclaimed in anger.  
  
"Now we have another reason why we need this plan to succeed. Not just to help Jane but also the other ballerinas who are wrongfully rejected based on their weight, height, disability, and gender," exclaimed Lincoln.  
  
Lincoln takes his headset back from Jane and puts it on. He then turns it on and speaks to another person via headset, "Luna, can you hear me?"  
  
Inside the building, Luna, Hector, Lana, Frida, Rosa, Leni, Carlota, and Chinah are standing behind a door presumably leading to the ballet class. Luna, Lana, Frida, Rosa, and Leni are all wearing headsets since they have different roles.  
  
"Head ya loud and clear, bro," Luna spoke on her headset.  
  
"Did you guys find the room?" Lincoln asked, his voice coming from the headset.  
  
Luna peeks through the small window and sees Mrs. Damocles' ballet class beginning their practice.  
  
"Roger, dude," Luna confirmed.  
  
"Great. Now get in there and hopefully she'll hire you for your roles," ordered Lincoln.  
  
"Got it."  
  
Luna gestured her hands towards the door and the rest nodded, confirming their understanding. Then, without hesitation, Luna swings the doors open, and the group enters the room. The entire class, who were disrupted by the sudden opening of the doors, watched the group enter in confusion. Even Mrs. Damocles herself was puzzled as to who these people are. The confused eyes staring straight at them made the group feel nervous.  
  
"Uh, who are you?" Mrs. Damocles asked the group.  
  
"Uh...I'm Luna Loud."  
  
"And I'm Hector Casagrande."  
  
"And we'll be your new choreographers!" Luna and Hector exclaimed, sweating profusely.  
  
"Oh! Goodie!" Mrs. Damocles exclaimed cheerfully. "My other choreographer couldn't make it today due to being sick and I didn't have time to hire a substitute. You will be the substitute choreographers for today."  
  
Elated expressions were plastered on Luna and Hector's faces. They did not expect to be hired that easily.  
  
Mrs. Damocles turns her attention towards Leni, Carlota, and Chinah, "And what about you, young ladies?"  
  
"Um...I'm Leni Loud.  
  
"I'm Carlota Casagrande."  
  
"And I'm Chinah with two h's."  
  
"And we're gonna be the designers for the ballerina dresses," said the Hispanic teen.  
  
"And why would I hire designers? The girls here already have dresses."  
  
"Oh. Well...ummm…" Carlota tried to think of an answer.  
  
"What happens if these girls were to, like, accidentally ruin or tear their dresses while practicing? Like, we can't have that, can we?" Leni told the instructor, causing relief among Chinah and Carlota.  
  
Mrs. Damocles stood there for a bit, thinking, before finally realizing what Leni said, "Oh! You're right! There is a high chance these ladies would ruin their beautiful attires during practice! Why didn't I think of that? You're hired!"  
  
Leni, Carlota, and Chinah smiled cheerfully before squealing and hugging each other in delight. Now the only people left are Lana, Frida, and Rosa.  
  
"And what about you three?" Mrs. Damocles asked Lana, Frida, and Rosa.  
  
"Umm...I'll Lana and I'll be your carpenter. You never know if the floor breaks."  
  
"I'm Rosa and I'll be serving your students my delicious comida mexicana. These children could be starving and might need to be fed."  
  
"And I'm Frida and I'll like to ask you some questions regarding your career as a ballet instructor. I'm also into ballet and I'm planning to become a ballet instructor myself."  
  
"Hmm…" Mrs. Damocles began, "The floor is creaky, my students could be starving, and I'll be happy to answer questions regarding my career as an excellent ballet instructor as well as give you advice. You're all hired!"  
  
"Yes!" Lana, Rosa, and Frida all cheered.  
  
"But you all have to wait until break time to do your jobs, except for the carpenter and choreographers. The choreographers will play music for the students while the carpenter will fix the floor in case it breaks during the middle of practice. Got it?"  
  
The group nodded, forcing nervous smiles.  
  
Mrs. Damocles then faces her class, "Now then. Shall we resume our practice?"  
  


* * *

About an hour later, break time for the ballet class finally arrives. Inside their room, the ballerinas feel a bit tired from practicing their ballet moves as well as Mrs. Damocles. She breathes heavily as she wipes the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief. Frida had watched from a corner next to a huge window while Luna and Hector finished playing their piano as choreographers. Lana, who watched from the corner opposite Frida's corner, looked bored as she was forced to watch a dance form she very despised for being "too girly" for her.  
  
"Phew! That was a good workout," she said. She clasps her hands and tells her students, "Now then. It seems that we all look tired from practicing our amazing ballet skills! You ladies have done a wonderful job! All of you truly deserve to compete in the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship! Why do you say we have a snack break with Rosa the cafeteria lady?"  
  
Mrs. Damocles points to the cafeteria across the hall from the dance room, where Rosa is waiting behind the counter with her food cooked and inside metallic pots, ready to be served.  
  
"Who's HUNGRY?!" Rosa exclaimed, holding up her spatula.  
  
The young ballerinas, licking their lips in hunger, run out of the room and into the cafeteria while Luna, Hector, and Lana also leave the room, leaving behind Mrs. Damocles and Frida.  
  
Mrs. Damocles turns to Frida, "Now that it's break time, I'll be happy to answer your questions as well as give you advice as to how to be a great ballet instructor like _moi_."  
  
"Alright," Frida said before clearing her throat.  
  
Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide all had watched the ordeal from inside the vents. As Frida is about to ask her first question, Lisa motions Lucy to give her the microphone and she complies. Carl turns on the recorder as Lisa puts the microphone close to the seal so it can record the conversation between Frida and Mrs. Damocles.  
  
"First question," Frida began, "What convinced you to become a ballet teacher?"  
  
"Isn't that obvious, _mademoiselle_? It was my love for ballet that encouraged me to become a ballet instructor," Mrs. Damocles replied casually.  
  
"Okay then," said Frida, a bit weirded out by Mrs. Damocles. "Next question: why did you start liking ballet?"  
  
"Because it is the most beautiful form of dance I've ever experienced. The way those beautiful ballerinas danced gracefully caught my attention. It's like watching diamonds shining bright in the sky. Those ballerinas I've watched throughout the years in France are also slim, which means they must've practiced their butts off to perfect their graceful twirls."  
  
"Riiiight," Frida uttered, already sensing Mrs. Damocles' sizeist language.  
  
Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Rosa is about to serve her food to the tall, red-haired ballerina with a bun tied to the back of her head, the first ballerina in line.  
  
"May I please have a red tamale?" the young ballerina asked in a cute voice.  
  
"Why sure," said Rosa. She grabs her spatula and opens the pot containing her red tamales. She picks up one tamale with the spatula and places it on the red-haired ballerina's plate.  
  
"Thank you," the red-haired ballerina thanked before walking away. She reached a table containing trays of red or green salsa. Rosa sees this and smirks, getting an idea. She runs over to the table and asks the girl, "Would you like some of my _salsa roja o verde_?"  
  
Without the girl noticing, Rosa pushes the red salsa tray too close to the side of the table and it falls onto the floor, spilling red salsa on the floor and on the red-haired girl's ballerina shirt, tutu, and shoes.  
  
"My ballerina dress!" she screamed as she stared down at her now-stained attire in horror.  
  
"Oh. I'm so sorry, _niñita_. How clumsy of me to ruin such a beautiful ballerina dress," Rosa falsely apologized as the red head glared at her. "I guess you'll have to go to the designers to make you a new dress."  
  
Meanwhile with Frida and Mrs. Damocles…  
  
"Next question: Do you support the body positivity movement?"  
  
"Ugh. The body positivity movement," Mrs. Damocles' reacted in such a disgusted and bitter manner. "Of course I don't support the so-called 'movement'. They are promoting an unhealthy body image, stating that 'all bodies are good bodies', including fat bodies. Like, don't they know that fat bodies are unhealthy and can cause serious health problems? The body positive movement is just an excuse for fat people to be lazy and eat all the junk food they can find."  
  
"Really now?" Frida raised her eyebrow. "Okay then. Last question: Do you think plus-size ballerinas can perform as well as thinner ballerinas?"  
  
"What kind of question is that?" the ballet instructor scoffed. "Of course not! It'll be difficult to shift that fatty blubber and perform a perfect, graceful twirl. Thinner bodies are way easier to move since they don't have that extra walrus blubber. During the tryouts, there was this young girl who was obese and, I'll admit, she performed well, don't ask me how she manged to shift her disgusting extra weight, but I rejected her because she was a disgrace to those slimmer ballerinas who worked hard to get their ballerina bodies. That disgraceful little piglet made those poor ballerinas look like they did their hard work for nothing! I also feared that she'll convince other obese girls that also want to be ballerinas to not lose weight and get the ideal ballerina body! Like, is that girl aware that she's promoting an unhealthy lifestyle?!"  
  
"Woah. Way harsh, don't you think?" Frida was taken aback by Mrs. Damocles' rant.  
  
"Sorry for the rant," the French ballet instructor apologized, "but it's true."  
  
Meanwhile in the vents, Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide had just recorded everything Mrs. Damocles said during her conversation with Frida. They were just as shocked as Frida was when Mrs. Damocles ranted on how Jane supposedly attempted to promote an unhealthy lifestyle. Carl pressed the button on the recorder, turning it off, still maintaining his aghast expression.  
  
"Well that was just mean!" Adelaide finally spoke. "I mean, I know Jane is my enemy, but...that's just mean! Why would she insult Jane like that?"  
  
"Good question. I would also like to ascertain why that instructor is so biased against overweight and obese individuals," stated Lisa.  
  
She presses the button on her headset and speaks to Lincoln, "Elder male sibling, we recorded the conversation."  
  
"Great! We got her now! Come out so we can listen to the recording," Lincoln ordered, his voice coming from the headset.  
  
Lisa turns off the headset and faces the other children, "Come on. We already recorded our evidence, so we need to give this to Lincoln."  
  
"Aw c'mon! More crawling?" Carl complained.  
  
"Like I said before, get used to it," Lucy repeated.  
  
Meanwhile, at the sewing room, Leni, Carlota, and Chinah are waiting for one or multiple ballerinas to enter the room and ask them to sew them a new attire. Behind the girls are stacks of pink fabric used to sew ballerina clothing. The three girls looked incredibly bored as they sat on their seats and did nothing for about an hour.  
  
As they sighed in boredom, the red-haired ballerina, whose dress is stained with Rosa's red salsa, suddenly burst into the room, startling the three young fashionistas.  
  
"Sew me a new dress! The clumsy cafeteria lady accidentally spilled some red salsa on me! I need a new, clean dress!"  
  
Suddenly, another ballerina, an orange-haired one with freckles and a ponytail, ran into the room. Her tutu is stained by green salsa.  
  
"I need a new dress, too! The cafeteria lady spilled it on me!"  
  
Almost instantly, a third ballerina, a blonde-haired girl looking like a smaller, thinner version of Lotta from _Harvey Girls Forever_ , joined in with the two other ballerinas, looking just as distressed. Her clothing is stained with a brown substance, possibly from Rosa's molé.  
  
"Sew me a new one, too! That cafeteria lady is so clumsy!"  
  
Leni, Carlota, and Chinah looked at each other and smirked, knowing what they had to do.  
  
Meanwhile, outside the dance building, the remaining Louds, Casagrandes, Changs, and pageant children look incredibly bored keeping an eye out for any signs of endangerment to their plan; so far, nothing has threatened their plan yet.  
  
Sid sighed in frustration, "This is boring! No one has appeared yet!"  
  
"Yeah. And now that I think about it, we look like the suspicious ones," Ronnie Anne claimed. "I mean, we're a bunch of random people standing outside a dance building, and I even saw some people who walked by here give us weird looks."  
  
"I hate to admit it, but yeah. We do look suspicious," Lincoln admitted, "but we should be okay. I mean, we're not that suspicious, right? Plus, we need to be out here keeping an eye out for trouble. You'll never know if someone would show up to ruin our plan."  
  
Unbeknownst to the guarding group, a girl by the name of Lacey St. Clair is spying on them from behind an alleyway. She makes an evil smirk, indicating that she is up to no good. She holds up her hand carrying a pile of glitter dust and blows on it, causing a cloud of sparkly glitter to blow towards the group.  
  
Claudette sighed, "I wish we can help Chinah, Leni, and Carlota with the sewing, but we don't know how to sew or design dresses."  
  
"Yeah. Who knew standing on guard can be so boring," said Jackie. "This must be what our security guards feel when they watch our mansion for us."  
  
Suddenly, the cloud of glitter reaches the group. Lola, Jane, Jackie, Claudette, and the other pageant girls notice the glitter and are instantly attracted by it. Their eye pupils widen and shine as they stare at the glitter.  
  
"Oh. My. Gosh," said Jackie.  
  
"Is that…" said Claudette.  
  
"GLITTER!" the rest of the pageant girls shouted ecstatically as the glitter flew past them. As the glitter blew away, the pageant girls, still in their trance, began chasing after it.  
  
"Girls! My princess! Where are you all going?!" Winston cried out to the girls as he and the other pageant boys chased after them.  
  
"Hey! Where are you little twerps going?!" Lori called out to the children to no avail.  
  
"After them!" Carlos ordered.  
  
Everyone, except for Lincoln and Lynn, then chased after the pageant children.  
  
"Guys! We're supposed to...guard," the white-haired Loud looked down in defeat.  
  
"Cool it, Stinkcoln. I'll stay on guard; you go after the rest," reassured Lynn.  
  
Lincoln smiled at his athletic sister. Knowing how good of a fighter Lynn is, he trusts that Lynn can handle the job well. He faces away from her and runs off to catch up with the rest.  
  
As she promised, Lynn stood on guard, even practicing her fighting moves, such as kicking and punching, and looking for any signs of danger. As she is on guard, Lynn suddenly feels a sting of pain on her back like someone just hit her there. Grimacing, she falls to the floor unconscious, revealing to be Lacey in a karate pose, smirking.  
  
"Hmph. You can never beat the best black belt in Royal Woods," Lacey told Lynn as she looked down at Lynn's unconscious body.  
  
Lacey then walks away from Lynn and enters the alleyway where Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide had found and entered the vents.  
  
Back inside the dance room, Mrs. Damocles had just finished giving her advice to Frida and was about to conclude the conversation with her.  
  
“It’s nice chatting with you, Mrs. Casagrande, but I have to go get my dinner. The smell of Rosa’s Mexican cooking is making me peckish.”  
  
“You will enjoy my mother-in-law’s cooking. Trust me,” Frida happily told the instructor. “Also, thanks for your advice.”  
  
“ _Je vous en prie_. You’re welcome,” Mrs. Damocles then leaves the dance room and enters the cafeteria. As Frida watches the ballet teacher leave, she shoots her a dirty glare as she mutters to herself, “What a fat-shaming bitch.”  
  
Meanwhile, Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide are crawling through the vents to return to the alleyway where they found and entered the vents.  
  
“Are we there yet?” Carl asked impatiently, growing tired from crawling a lot.  
  
“You’re really starting to get on my nerves,” the goth muttered, growing irked from Carl’s constant complaining.  
  
“According to my device, we should be very close to the opening where we first entered the ventilation system,” Lisa told Carl, looking at the electronic map on the screen of her device.  
  
As Lisa turned to the right, she was suddenly blinded by a bright light coming from the other end of the vent. As her eyesight returns to normal, she looks straight at the end and sees that it leads outside.  
  
“Come on, comrades,” Lisa ordered. “We’re almost home!”  
  
The children crawled towards the exit and finally reached the outside of the building. Lisa was the first to crawl out, then Lucy, then Carl, and finally Adelaide.  
  
“Phew! We’re finally outside!” Carl exclaimed.  
  
“Now can you shut up?” Lucy glared disdainfully at Carl.  
  
“Oh hello, nerd, goth, lady’s man, and abomination of a human being,” greeted a familiar voice.  
  
The four children were a bit startled by the voice. It sounded familiar, but it doesn’t belong to any of their friends or families. They looked at where the voice came from and saw Lacey, their worst nemesis, standing in front of them with her arms crossed and triumphant eyes staring down at the children. Lisa, Lucy, Carl, Adelaide all exchanged worried looks.  
  
Meanwhile, Lincoln, the other remaining Louds, the remaining Casagrandes, and the remaining Changs are chasing after the pageant boys who are chasing after the pageant girls who are chasing after the cloud of glitter. They had already ran about two blocks away from the dance building. The glitter continued to blow away from the chasing, glitter-obsessed pageant girls until it reached a fan from a grocery store. The fan is blowing in the opposite direction, causing the cloud of glitter to blow quickly towards the girls, eventually hitting them and dispersing into tiny clouds before disappearing completely. Their faces are covered by the dust of glitter.  
  
Lola shakes the glitter off her face, looking disappointed, “Aw. The glitter’s gone.”  
  
“ _Allons_! I really wanted to use that glitter for an art project I’m working on!” Claudette complained disappointedly.  
  
Suddenly, the pageant girls are caught up by the pageant boys who were out of breath from running.  
  
“Girls! The heck were you thinking?!” Alfred asked.  
  
“We’re supposed to be keeping guard, not chasing after glitter!” Winston reminded them.  
  
Eventually, Lincoln and the rest caught up to the pageant children, also out of breath.  
  
“Guys! What were you doing?!” Lincoln asked.  
  
“Why did you kids run off like that?!” Lori asked.  
  
“My apologies, everyone,” Winston apologized. “We just wanted to stop the girls from chasing after some cloud of glitter.”  
  
“Sorry,” the pageant girls apologized.  
  
“Well, we better get back to the dance building. Lynn’s out there guarding all by herself!” exclaimed Lincoln.  
  
“Let’s go then!” ordered Jane.  
  
Everybody then runs back to the dance building.

* * *

After running two more blocks, they finally reached the dance edifice.  
  
“Phew! We’re back,” Lincoln said, gasping for breath.  
  
All of a sudden, he notices Lynn unconscious on the floor and gasps in shock.  
  
“LYNN!”  
  
Lincoln ran towards Lynn with the other following.  
  
“Lynn, are you okay? Lynn!” Lincoln said frantically, shaking her.  
  
Not long after, Lynn slowly wakes from all the shaking. “Lincoln?”  
  
“Lynn, what happened?! Why were you laying on the floor?” questioned the white-haired Loud.  
  
“I...I...I don’t remember,” Lynn slowly replied, getting into a sitting position and placing a hand on her forehead.  
  
“I knew it! I knew there would be someone who would try to ruin our plan!” Lincoln exclaimed in anger.  
  
After hearing those words, Lynn suddenly remembers, “Hold on. Now I remember!”  
  
Everyone, including Lincoln, all listen carefully to Lynn.  
  
“I was guarding the entrance and looking for any signs of danger when suddenly, I felt a sting of pain on my back, and the next thing I know, I blacked out,” Lynn explained. “Sorry, little bro. I failed you.”  
  
“No you didn’t, Lynn,” assured Lynn. “In fact,” he glares at the pageant girls along with everyone else, “if it weren’t for a certain group of girls, none of this would’ve happened.”  
  
The pageant girls took offense to Lincoln blaming them.  
  
“Hey! We said we were sorry! Sheesh!” Lola exclaimed indignantly.  
  
Lincoln then turned his attention towards the rest, “Guys! Get inside the building! Might as well confront whoever sneaked into the building and is trying to ruin our plan!”  
  
Lincoln then runs into the building followed by Lynn and the rest of the group.


	7. Caught!

Lincoln, his family, the Casagrandes, the Changs, and the pageant-competitive children ran across the hallways of the dance building, searching for the dance room of Mrs. Damocles' ballet class.  
  
"We gotta find them before it's too late!" Lincoln told the rest of the remaining gang, still running.  
  
As the gang turned to the right to another hallway, they suddenly slowed down, their feet scratching along the floor, and stopped abruptly. Someone, or rather another group of people, are in their way. Standing in front of the Louds, the Changs, the Casagrandes, and the pageant children are Mrs. Damocles and Lacey. Mrs. Damocles stared at the group with a look of anger, her hands on her hips, while Lacey gave them a smug, knowing that she successfully ruined their plan. Standing in front of the angry ballet instructor and the smirking school bully are Lisa, Lucy, Carl, Adelaide, and for some reason Rosa, Frida, Carlota, Leni, Chinah, Luna, Hector, and Lana who all have looks of sadness and defeat. Standing behind the instructor and the class-conscious Lacey is the instructor's ballet class who are looking on with confusion. Lincoln's gang is in absolute shock, especially Lola, Jane, and the other pageant children. Out of all people who spoiled their plan, Lacey was responsible for it. The minds of Lola and Jane were bombarded with questions. How did Lacey, the school bully, know about their plan, and what did she do to ruin it and expose it to Mrs. Damocles?  
  
"Welp. We're in trouble," stated Lincoln, sweating nervously and profusely.  
  
"Oh. Hello, Lola. Jane," Lacey greeted her worst enemies, still smirking.  
  
"LACEY?!" the pageant children exclaimed in utter shock.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Lola asked, her voice a mixture of shock and anger.  
  
"And how did you know about our plan?!" Jane demanded.  
  
"Easy. I've heard you girls discussing firing this poor ballet teacher," Lacey pointed at Mrs. Damocles with her thumb, "for 'fat-shaming' Little Miss Piggy here," she pointed at Jane with her index finger, "earlier during lunch," she explained.  
  
At that moment, the pageant kids gasped in shock remembering their discussion about Lincoln's plan during lunchtime at school. The scene then flashbacks to the said moment where the pageant-lover discussed firing Mrs. Damocles for unfairly rejecting Jane for being overweight, but unbeknownst to them, someone else had been eavesdropping into their conversation from another nearby table, listening to every word they have uttered about their plan. That person was none other than Lacey St. Clair. She smirks as she hears every word uttered from the mouths of her enemies, thinking about foiling their plan. The flashback then ends. By this point, the pageant children's looks of shock transformed into looks of anger, realizing what Lacey had been doing all this time.  
  
"You...EAVESDROPPED?!" Lola shouted in anger.  
  
"Y'know, you could've discussed your plan in a secret place," Lacey suggested, "but you decided to discuss in an open space where anyone can hear you, myself included," Lacey giggled.  
  
"Okay. So you've eavesdropped and knew about our plan," Lincoln recapped, "but even with that, why do you care? I mean, do you even know Mrs. Damocles?"  
  
"Apparently, I do," Mrs. Damocles finally spoke. "In fact, she and I are _related_."  
  
"In other words, Mrs. Damocles is my _grand-aunt_ ," Lacey clarified.  
  
"GRAND-AUNT?!" the gang exclaimed in utter shock.  
  
"Yes," the school bully confirmed. "My grand-aunt, aka the sister of my grandmother."  
  
"We know what a grand-aunt is," stated Lola.  
  
Ignoring Lola, Lacey explains, "My grand-auntie and I had known each other since I was a toddler. She's the reason why I got into ballet in the first place. I even entered last year's Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship and won."  
  
"Exactly!" Mrs. Damocles grabs Lacey's shoulders and massages them as she explains, "My little grand-niece is the most well-behaved and amazing student I've ever had. She is the definition of perfection! Her dance moves are elegant, her choreography matches the rhythm of ballet music, and she definitely matches the ideal ballerina figure. For those reasons, I've chosen my daughter as the winner of last year's competition."  
  
"And guess where I went? I went to Paris, France," Lacey added.  
  
"Lucky!" Claudette shouted, disappointed.  
  
The gang glared at the French girl.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yes, Claudette. I'm lucky indeed. Anyway," Lacey resumed, "since I am related to my grand-auntie and her best former student, it'll be foolish of me to ignore your plan to fire my grand-auntie all because she rejected the pig for being fat when in reality her rejection is justified."  
  
Jane grew angrier from Lacey calling her a pig, but she held her anger in.  
  
"And speaking of the plan," Mrs. Damocles explains, "I've heard all about it from my nephew! Planning to fire me because I rejected the obese girl is absolutely outrageous and disgusting. You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"  
  
"I am not obese!" Jane retorted. "I'm overweight! There's a difference!"  
  
Mrs. Damocles rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, I've also heard this." She holds up the recorder, much to the gang's horror, and presses the button, playing the part where she gives her opinion about the body positivity movement while Frida questioned her:  
  
 _Ugh. The body positivity movement. Of course I don't support the so-called 'movement'. They are promoting an unhealthy body image, stating that 'all bodies are good bodies', including fat bodies. Like, don't they know that fat bodies are unhealthy and can cause serious health problems? The body-positive movement is just an excuse for fat people to be lazy and eat all the junk food they can find_.  
  
The ballet teacher then stops the recording. "Very sneaky of these children to be crawling through the vents and recording my conversation, which is, oh I don't know, eavesdropping!"  
  
Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide felt even more guilty.  
  
"And very clever of you brusque children to be sending the fake fashion designers, cafeteria lady, carpenter and choreographers to distract my students, and the fake questioner to expose my so-called fat-shaming beliefs. I'm soooo not giving my opinion on the unhealthy body movement ever again."  
  
Frida, Lana, Hector, Luna, Carlota, Leni, Rosa, and Chinah also felt more guilty.  
  
"Auntie, may I have the recorder, please?" Lacey asked nicely.  
  
"Be my guest, my wonderful niece."  
  
Mrs. Damocles hands the recorder to Lacey. Upon receiving it, the classist school bully drops the recorder on the floor and proceeds to stomp on it with her foot, breaking it in the process. The Louds, the Casagrandes, the Changs, and Lola's friends all watched in horror as Lacey destroys the only evidence that Mrs. Damocles is prejudiced against overweight people.  
  
"Welp. There goes our proof," said Lana.  
  
"There," Lacey stops stomping on the now-destroyed recorder. "Now you don't have evidence to fire my auntie."  
  
"GUARDS!" Mrs. Damocles suddenly shouted.  
  
Almost instantly, a group of brawn, male security guards appeared from behind Lincoln and the gang and grabs them, holding them tight while another group of security guards also grabs Frida, Rosa, Luna, Hector, Lana, Carlota, Leni, Chinah, Lisa, Lucy, Carl, and Adelaide. The Louds, the Casagrandes, the Changs, and Lola's friends struggled to break free from the guard's grasps to no avail. They were too strong.  
  
"Let. Us. Go!" Jane demanded.  
  
"You're ruining my hair!" Lola shouted, her voice and mixture of anger and distress.  
  
"Auntie, before you throw this disgraceful garbage out, can I say something really important to them?" Lacey requested.  
  
"You've earned my permission, my beautiful niece."  
  
"Oh auntie," Lacey smiled warmly at Mrs. Damocles.  
  
Lacey then turns to the gang, her warm smile instantly morphing into a smirk, and slowly approaches Jane. The plump princess stopped squirming and stared at Lacey with a mixture of confusion and antipathy.  
  
After looking at Jane in the eye, Lacey finally spoke, "Before you leave, Jane, I will give you some facts of mine, and you better burn them into your thick skull. Fat-shaming is _not real_. Fat-shaming is something that fat people like you made up as an excuse to be lazy and unhealthy. Fat people deserve to be shamed for their large weight because they are responsible for controlling it. Also, being overweight and healthy at the same time is not possible and it's total BS. Like, how can you be fat and exercise at the same time? Doesn't exercise burn off the calories? Again, the reason fat people are fat is that they don't exercise and overeat on junk food. Thinness is the norm. Thinness is the picture of health. Thinness is desirable and worthy. Thinness is the perfect body. Fatness is none of those, and you Jane are fat, meaning you are not the picture of health, you are undesirable and unworthy, and you don't have the perfect body. Don't worry, though. You can still become a ballerina and become worthy for societal standards. Just do these three simple words: lose some weight."  
  
If the guards weren't holding Jane, then she would've punched Lacey hard in the face by now. She wanted to maim her for all the horrible remarks she said about herself and other overweight individuals, but she would also admit that some of the other things Lacey said are undeniably true. Exercise does lead to weight loss, and the reason some people are overweight is that they either don't perform any physical activity, eat enough healthy food, or both. Heck, the reason Jane is overweight is that she ate a lot of unhealthy food during her toddlerhood due to her bratty attitude, but as she turned four she ceased her bratty behavior and stopped demanding for more food, eventually halting her weight gain. However, the way Lacey generalized all fat people as lazy and unhealthy made Jane sick. Not all fat people are lazy and unhealthy, and a good example of that is Jane herself. She engages in physical activities, such as dance and ballet, and eats healthy, so technically Jane is healthy. There are also some overweight people that do have the motivation to lose weight; therefore, disproving the common sizeist stereotype that fat people are lazy and unhealthy. Wrath dominated Jane's emotions. She wanted to yell at Lacey and give her a piece of her mind, but it's already too late. Mrs. Damocles knows about Lincoln's plan thanks to Lacey, the evidence exposing Mrs. Damocles as a sizeist is destroyed, and they are on the brink of getting kicked out by security, so there is no point in bashing Lacey for her bias against plus-size people.  
  
"Guards, you all may throw the garbage out," Lacey ordered.

* * *

Outside the dance edifice, the security guards kicked the doors open and threw the Louds, the Casagrandes, the Changs, and the pageant kids outside towards the other end of the street. As the security guards returned inside, Mrs. Damocles walks out of the building and onto the sidewalk, expressing a stern look on her face, and exclaimed to them:  
  
"If I see any of you around here again, I will not hesitate to call the police and have all of you arrested! You hear me?! ARRESTED!"  
  
And with that, she slams both doors shut.  
  
On the other side of the street, Lincoln and the gang stood up and rubbed off potential dirt on their clothes as well as rubbed the parts of their bodies where they felt pain from landing on the hard sidewalk.  
  
Chinah, Jackie, and Claudette stood up, their hair messed up and gowns dirty, and angrily stared at the dance building with Chinah yelling, "Ugh! Rude! If you're gonna kick us out, at least do it in a way that won't mess up our hair and dirty our dresses!" while shaking her fist.  
  
Roxanne and Lola looked at Jane who was sitting on the ground looking upset, causing both girls to feel guilty.  
  
"We're sorry, Jane. This was our fault! We were the ones that messed up the plan!" Lola apologized.  
  
"Ugh! Why are we obsessed with glitter?!" Roxanne complained. "Curse you, glitter gods!" she shook her fist in the air.  
  
Jane sighed sadly, "It's not your fault, guys. You all tried to help, that's all."  
  
Everyone stared at Jane as she talked.  
  
The plump princess sighed again, "Maybe Lacey and Mrs. Damocles are right. I am too big to be a ballerina. Maybe you do have to be skinny to be a ballerina."  
  
"Wait," Lynn spoke up, "so you're just gonna give in to those fat-shamers?!"  
  
"But what about that amazing ballet performance you did in the tryouts?" Lola reminded. "You're a great ballet dancer, Jane! And you can't let people like Lacey or Mrs. Damocles stop you from doing the things you love!"  
  
"Yeah, but what's the point if a ballet teacher is just gonna reject me for not fitting the 'ideal ballerina body'," Jane explained dejectedly. "I mean, what if some, if not, all ballet teachers are like Mrs. Damocles? Judging me or another big person based on body size or weight. And if that's the case, then I might as well give up on becoming a ballerina. Excuse me."  
  
And with that, Jane began walking away, seemingly on the verge of crying. Everyone watched her go, guilt written all over their faces.  
  
"Jane! Wait!" Lola tried to run after her, but her brother Lincoln grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.  
  
"Lola, let her go," he told his younger sister.  
  
"But Jane's now feeling worse than before! We gotta do something!" the pageant princess insisted.  
  
"Lola," Lincoln repeated. "We tried. We tried to help her, and we failed. Might as well accept defeat."  
  
Lola wanted to argue. She wanted to convince everyone to help Jane again and encourage her to resume pursuing her dream, but she knew Lincoln was right. They had tried to help poor Jane receive the justice she deserves, but they failed and made the situation worse. Now Jane had given up and accepted that only thin people can be ballerinas as a result of their mistakes. Lola wanted to cry. She yearned to let all the guilt inside her body wash down from her eyes in the form of tears, but none came. She doesn't want the guilt to leave; in fact, she doesn't deserve to let the guilt loose. It was her and her friends' fault that the plan was ruined, and they have to live with it for now. All Lola hoped is that Jane will be okay and won't do anything that might potentially harm herself.


	8. A Talk with Big Brother

It's been about two hours since the Louds, the Casagrandes, the Changs, and the pageant children failed to expose Mrs. Damocles as a sizeist and get her fired due to Lacey's intervention, who turned out to be the grand-niece of Mrs. Damocles. The biased ballet instructor is now fully aware that Jane and her friends want her terminated for "unfairly" rejecting her from her class when in actuality she believes that she rejected Jane for the right reason, so after kicking Jane and the families out she hired more security as well as install security cameras and alarms in case those angry-for-nothing people decided to come back. If Mrs. Damocles wants to enforce her "ideal ballerina body" standard on her pupils, then she'll have to protect it in many ways possible, even if it involves rejecting students that do not fit the "ballerina body" standard such as short, plus-size, transgender, and disabled young ballerinas.  
  
Meanwhile, at the Fitzgerald residence, Joanna, the mother of the family, is at the dining room placing plates of steak, rice, and vegetables on the table. As she places the last plate down, she hears the front door opening then closing. She looks at the door and sees her husband John who just arrived home from work. He looked pretty exhausted, looking like he could not wait to finally return home so he could relax.  
  
"Good afternoon, honey," Joanne happily greeted her husband. "How was work?"  
  
"Tiring per usual," John replied after taking a deep breath. "Paperwork, meetings, business plans. You know the deal."  
  
John suddenly began sniffing the air as he smelled the aroma coming from the plates of food Joanne had just prepared.  
  
"Mmm. That smells good. Whatcha cook, hon'?"  
  
"Steak with rice and vegetables," Joanne replied.  
  
"Mmm. My favorite. I sure could use some food. I've been starving for hours."  
  
"That's why you have me," Joanna said gladly.  
  
The matriarch of the Fitzgerald family then faces the staircase leading to the bedrooms and calls out to the children. "Jane! Jeremy! Dinner's ready!"  
  
In a matter of seconds, Jeremy, the oldest sibling of the family, ran downstairs and stopped by his mother.  
  
" 'Bout time it's dinner time!" Jeremy exclaimed happily.  
  
"Where's Jane?" asked John.  
  
"She's still in her room," replied Jeremy.  
  
Joanne took a sigh and called for her daughter. "Jane! Dinner's ready! I even prepared your favorite veggie!"  
  
"I'M NOT HUNGRY!" Jane suddenly screamed back from her room, sounding very defiant.  
  
The Fitzgeralds were taken aback by Jane's refusal to come down for dinner.  
  
"That's strange. She usually comes down excited when you mention her favorite veggie," John told his wife.  
  
"I know. She's been like this since she came back home two hours ago. I wonder what's going on," said Joanne, concerned.  
  
"Did she get into a fight with one of her friends?"  
  
"I don't know. All I know is that she returned looking very upset and marching up to her room before slamming her door. I tried to ask her, but she refused to listen."  
  
"I'll go see what's up," Jeremy told his parents before heading back upstairs.  
  
On the second floor hallway, Jeremy approaches Jane's bedroom door, which is partially covered by a drawing of pink hearts with writing drawn with a brown crayon saying "Jane's Bedroom" presumably made by Jane herself, and knocks on it.  
  
"Go away, Jeremy!" Jane ordered, her voice muffled by the door.  
  
"Jane, I just want to talk," stated Jeremy.  
  
"I don't want to talk!" replied Jane defiantly. "Now leave me alone!"  
  
"Jane," Jeremy persisted, "mom and dad want to know why you're upset. You've been acting like this since you returned home about two hours ago, and they're starting to get worried. You can't hide whatever you're hiding forever. You'll need to tell us what's wrong eventually, and that time to spill is now, so please let me in. I just want to help you."  
  
Jane lets out a sigh, "Fine. You win."  
  
Jeremy suddenly heard a click from the doorknob, indicating Jane had unlocked her door. The eldest sibling of the family opens the door and enters the room, catching a glimpse of his younger sister plopping back on her head, her face on the pillow and laying on her stomach. Jeremy softly closes the door behind him and then slowly approaches his little sister, wearing a worried look on his face. He had seen this before. The sight of Jane laying on her bed on her stomach and acting in a defiant manner reminded Jeremy of times Jane similarly acted in such behavior every time she returned home back in their hometown. She would usually act like this every time she was bullied for being overweight; then, the next day she would exhibit some eating-disorder-like behavior such as eating more vegetables than normal, exercising a bit more than normal, feeling guilty after giving in to eating any food that is high in calories, and, in rare cases, even curse herself for getting such a "disgusting" body. Thankfully, Jane did not develop a full-on eating disorder and would return to her normal, happy self, but every now and then she would return to her temporal unhealthy behaviors every time another incident of bullying turned up. Thinking about these past actions made Jeremy more worried. He feared that his little sister is once again a target of bullying due to her weight and might engage in temporal, eating-disorder-like behaviors again, or worse, even develop an actual eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Jeremey did not want that to happen, so he'll need to know why Jane is upset so he can prevent such a terrible occurrence from happening.  
  
"So...umm...how are you feeling, lil' sis?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Jane scoffed, sounding almost sardonic. Her voice is also muffled by her pillow since her face is still on it.  
  
"Oh. Right," said Jeremy, feeling a bit stupid for asking such a useless question. "So tell me...why are you upset? Did something bad happen at school?"  
  
"No," the sad, plump princess replied.  
  
"Did you get detention and don't want to tell mom and dad about it in fear of getting grounded?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did you get bullied?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did you get into a fight with one of your friends?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what?" Jeremy asked curiously.  
  
"Actually, it has nothing to do with school or my friends," Jane finally uttered.  
  
"And what is that something that has nothing to do with school or your friends?"  
  
"Ballet."  
  
Jeremy went from concerned to confused. As her older brother, he knew that Jane was into ballet and dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina ever since she was four. It is one of her favorite hobbies and physical activities. She would also get excited every time someone mentioned the word "ballet," but know she is upset about it? Now that Jeremy thinks about it, he also recalled Jane feeling upset about not being able to become a ballerina because of her weight since all of the ballerinas she saw on television or on stage were thin, but all that changed when Jane took her first-ever ballet class. Now she is the most talented young ballerina in her class, so why is she upset about ballet like before? Then, Jeremy remembered the ballerina event that Jane used to be excited about just a week ago: the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship. For the entire week, Jane would talk about how excited she was about the championship nonstop, but when the day of the tryouts, which was a few days ago, finally arrived, she said absolutely nothing about it. When he or his parents were to ask about how well Jane did on the tryouts, she would remain silent as if they said nothing. Her excitement all but disappeared on the day of the tryouts. All of these memories encouraged Jeremy to ask Jane more questions about her current behavior.  
  
"Ballet? Ballet made you upset?"  
  
"Yes," Jane confirmed.  
  
"And now that you've mentioned it, just a week ago, you were excited about competing in the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship, always talking about how you'll beat all the other girls in the competition, but when the day of the tryouts finally arrived, you suddenly stopped. You stopped bragging about how you'll win the competition, and when we tried to ask you about the tryouts, you refused to answer. Did something happen at the tryouts that you refuse to speak about?" Jeremy asked.  
  
Jane remained silent. She is very hesitant to tell her big brother about the incident with Mrs. Damocles at the tryouts as well as the recent incident at the dance building where Mrs. Damocles' ballet class took place. Jane wanted to deal with her current problem without the involvement of her family, but it backfired thanks to her enemy Lacey St. Clair. Despite having given up her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer, she still held a grudge against Mrs. Damocles for judging her based on her size instead of her skill and still wants her terminated from her job, but there is no other way to get her fired other than telling her family about it so they can do something, so she had no other choice.  
  
"Actually, something did happen at the tryouts," Jane finally spoke, lifting her head from the pillow, "and it isn't pretty."  
  
"Okay. Proceed," said Jeremy.  
  
"At the tryouts, the ballet teacher by the name of Mrs. Damocles rejected me from her class despite my flawless performance, and the reason for that is because I'm 'too big to be a ballerina'."  
  
"WHAT?!" Jeremy is suddenly shocked after hearing the last phrase. "She rejected you because you were too big to be a ballerina?!"  
  
Jane nodded.  
  
"So she judged you not by your performance but by your size?!"  
  
Jane nodded again. "And she justified her reason by claiming that I'll teach other potential ballet dancers that it's okay to be fat and not follow the 'ideal ballerina body', so basically she thinks I'll promote obesity and make the skinny ballerinas look bad."  
  
Jeremy is in absolute shock. He could not believe a word Jane had said. His younger sister had been wrongfully rejected because she is overweight, and they justified it by making assumptions based on her weight.  
  
"Jane, why didn't you tell us before? Mom and dad could have done something!"  
  
"Because I thought I could handle it myself!" Jane cried. "Before coming back home, I went to Lola's home and told her family about the incident, and they agreed to help me. Then, just two hours ago, the Louds and my other friends sneaked into Mrs. Damocles class to gather evidence that will get her in trouble by the higher ups, but then we got caught. After that, I gave up on becoming a ballerina because what's the point if ballet teachers like Mrs. Damocles are just gonna judge me based on my size instead of my skill!" Jane then plops her hand back on her pillow and proceeds to cry.  
  
Jeremy felt bad for his little sister. She had been through a lot, and the fact that he was unaware of it made him feel guilty. His parents could have done something about Jane's unfair rejection, but they did not because Jane had chosen to remain silent and deal with her problem herself.  
  
Jeremy places his hand on his sister's back to comfort her a bit.  
  
"I'm so sorry to hear that lil' sis," said Jeremy. "Now, I know you feel upset about your ballet teacher rejecting you because of your weight, and you have the right to be upset, but you can't give up your dreams because of one prejudiced teacher. I mean, yeah. There are some dance teachers that think like Mrs. Damocles; that is, only skinny people can dance and that a fat person dancing is promoting obesity, but not all dance teachers are like that. You just haven't met one yet. In other words, don't give to the beliefs of prejudiced, ignorant people. They just want to make you feel bad and make themselves look better when in actuality they are not. If someone were to say something negative about your body, just ignore them and join those who accept you for who you are. If a dance teacher like Mrs. Damocles were to reject you because of your weight, then ignore them and go to another one who is willing to accept you based on your skill and not your size. Being big does not make you unworthy of being a ballerina. In fact, you're one of the best ballerinas out there. You've proven that big people like you can perform ballet, so continue proving it to the world and don't let others put you down."  
  
Jane slowly lifted her head again, her face wet with tears. Jeremy is right. Jane is one of the best young ballerinas in Royal Woods, and she did prove to the world that people her size can perform ballet. Heck, she remembered the shocked looks on her friends' faces when she flawlessly performed her recital in front of them during her previous class. People like Mrs. Damocles and Lacey don't truly know what she's capable of and rely on stereotypes to judge someone like her before getting to know her. She must continue to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina if she wants to prove to the people who doubt her that she and other people her size can do and not let prejudice and discrimination stop her.  
  
Just then, to Jeremy's surprise, Jane hugs him tightly. Jeremy blushed in embarrassment at first, but then he gave in and hugged her back. The two siblings have engaged in a big sibling hug.  
  
"Thank you, big bro."  
  
"You're welcome, little chubby sister," was Jeremy's reply. "Come on. Let's go eat, then we'll tell mom and dad what you've been going through lately."


	9. Exposed!

The next day at the dance building, the second day of ballet practice had ended. The tall, thin young ballerinas had packed up their belongings and already left for home. The only ones left in the dance room are Mrs. Damocles and her superior Mr. Madison. Mr. Madison is the executive of most of the programs of extracurricular activities for children, including the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship. He visited the ballet class to watch the ballerinas practice their moves and perform their recitals, making sure that Mrs. Damocles is properly preparing them for the championship that will take place two weeks later. After the students left, Mr. Madison engaged in a conversation with Mrs. Damocles, praising her for her good teaching.  
  
"I gotta say, Mrs. Damocles. You've done a good job preparing the girls for the upcoming championship which is two weeks away from now," Mr. Madison praised.  
  
"Aw. It was nothing," Mrs. Damocles said, taking her boss' compliment well. "I'm just doing my job."  
  
"I know that, and you're doing pretty good! You've chosen the right girls for your class. They're all so good, I don't know which one will win!"  
  
"Well, you know me, Mr. Madison. I only choose the girls that are the right fit for ballet, if you know what I mean," Mrs. Damocles giggled at her own joke.  
  
Mr. Madison just stared at her in confusion, obviously not getting Mrs. Damocles' joke.  
  
Suddenly, someone knocked on the doors.  
  
"I'll get it," Mrs. Damocles walks over to the doors and opens them, revealing Joanna and John, Jane's parents, who have indifferent expressions on their faces.  
  
"Umm...good afternoon," the ballet instructor greeted, confused to see two parents. "Are you two parents of one of my students?"  
  
"We are parents, but we're not parents of one of your students," replied Joanna, still maintaining her neutral expression.  
  
"And you must be Mrs. Damocles," John guessed. "And we've heard from our daughter that she had some issues with you back during tryouts, so do you mind if we enter your class and discuss our issue?"  
  
Mrs. Damocles went from puzzled to nervous. They are the parents of one of the girls that were rejected during the tryouts? Could they be the parents of the chubby girl that she rejected? Such a thought sent chills through Mrs. Damocles' spine. A group of parents are potentially gonna expose her true beliefs to her boss, which may lead to her termination from her career. She suppressed such thoughts, hoping that parents are going to discuss another issue and not the one she feared might take away her career as a ballet instructor.  
  
"Umm...no. I don't mind at all! You can come in! We'll discuss anything you both have to say!" Mrs. Damocles said, trying her hardest to hide her growing anxiety. "Come in."  
  
Mrs. Damocles leads the Fitzgerald parents inside the dance room as they approach Mr. Madison.  
  
"This is Mr. Madison," Mrs. Damocles introduced. "He's my boss."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Madison shakes hands with both hands.  
  
"So, you're her boss, eh?" said John.  
  
"We've heard from our daughter that she had issues with Mrs. Damocles during the tryouts, so you have to hear this," Joanna told Mr. Madison.  
  
"Issues?" Mr. Madison is confused. "What are they talking about?" he asked the ballet teacher.  
  
"Well...ummm…" Mrs. Damocles tried to think of something to say, but could not think of anything. She had begun sweating profusely, giving away her anxious behavior.  
  
"So, you know what we're talking about, huh?" John crossed his arms, his indifferent expression morphing into a stern glare as well as his wife's.  
  
"And what is the name of your child?" Mrs. Damocles nervously asked. "I mean, you're the parents of a child I rejected, right?"  
  
"Our daughter's name is Jane Fitzgerald," was Joanne's stern reply.  
  
Mrs. Damocles' heart skipped a beat after hearing that familiar name. Jane Fitzgerald. That dreaded name again. It is what the French ballet instructor had feared all along. These parents _are_ the parents of that girl she had rejected for being overweight, and now they are going to complain about it in front of her boss, sealing her termination.  
  
"And our daughter had told us that you unfairly rejected her from your class despite performing well during the tryouts because of her weight," John finally told Mrs. Damocles.  
  
Mr. Madison gasped in horror after hearing that. He had not expected a parent to make such an accusation against one of his employees.  
  
"You WHAT?!" the boss hollered at Mrs. Damocles, still shaken from the Fitzgeralds' accusation.  
  
"Well...umm…" Mrs. Damocles tried to think of an excuse to tell her boss.  
  
"You're surprised?" Joanna now glared at Mr. Madison.  
  
"Well, you see. Mrs. Damocles has been one of my most talented teachers I've ever hired. She's an expert in ballet, so I hired her. And she tells me that she had chosen her students for the competition fair and square. And I've never heard any parent accuse her of such an action!"  
  
"Well, sorry, but looks like your 'best' employee had lied to you the whole time," said John.  
  
"And according to my daughter, this lady," Joanne pointed at Mrs. Damocles, "rejected her based on her weight because she only chooses those that fit the 'ideal ballerina body,' which is a ballerina with a thin body and long legs, and my daughter does not have any of those!" she complained.  
  
After hearing the complaints, Mr. Madison glared sternly at Mrs. Damocles, "Is that true, Mrs. Damocles?!"  
  
Mrs. Damocles sighed, "Yes."  
  
"What the-? W-w-why did you do this?! I thought you were choosing your students based on their skills, not their size!"  
  
"Well, I-"  
  
Mr. Madison let out a frustrated sigh, interrupting his employee, "I hope Jane is the only one who is rejected unjustly."  
  
As soon as Mr. Madison said that, a group of outraged parents burst through the doors and entered the dance room, surrounding Mrs. Damocles and Mr. Madison.  
  
"We demand an explanation for this!" one father demanded to Mrs. Damocles.  
  
"Our daughter had been unfairly rejected by you because she considered her 'too short' to be a ballerina!" complained his wife.  
  
"My poor girl was sent crying to her room after coming back home from the tryouts because you rejected her for having autism!" complained another mother.  
  
"Our daughter was devastated for days after learning that she was rejected from her ballet class because she has Down syndrome!"  
  
"According to this teacher, my daughter was 'too ugly' to be a ballerina!"  
  
"And my son-turned-daughter was turned down because she's a transgender, claiming that 'ballet is no place for boys or transgender girls'."  
  
Mrs. Damocles and Mr. Madison are both overwhelmed by the many complaints of the angry parents, but Mr. Madison is the most overwhelmed as well as shocked. He could not believe his ears. The parents are accusing Mrs. Damocles of rejecting many girls not only based on their weight but also their height, disability, physical appearance, and gender identity. This whole time Mrs. Damocles had lied to him about choosing her students based on their skills.  
  
As the parents become silent, Mr. Madison glared angrily at Mrs. Damocles, who now looked like she had just woken up from a nightmare.  
  
"Well, Mrs. Damocles. Looks like you have some explaining to do," said Mr. Madison.  
  
Mrs. Damocles gulped in fear. Her career as a ballet teacher is definitely over.


	10. Breaking News!

Nighttime has dawned on the small Michigan town of Royal Woods, and at the Loud residence, Lola is at the living room resting on the couch and watching television, looking a bit sad from what happened earlier today. The television displays a scene of a group of tall, thin adult ballerinas performing a ballet routine on stage. Watching the ballerinas dance on screen reminded Lola of Jane who had told her and her friends and family earlier that she had given up on her dream of becoming a ballerina because she thinks there is no point if being skinny is one qualification for becoming a ballerina, and noticing the ballerinas' thin bodies and long, thin legs reminded Lola of the "ideal ballerina body," which Jane does not fit since she has a bigger body and short, stubby legs. Lola sighed sadly and changed the channel. She could not bear to watch the ballerinas dance since they just reminded her of the terrible discrimination Jane had dealt with.  
  
Ever since arriving home from the dance building, Lola could not stop blaming herself and her pageant friends for destroying Jane's dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. The main reason why Lacey successfully destroyed the plan because she and her friends became easily distracted by the cloud of glitter, which she guessed came from Lacey, and started chasing which in turn caused the rest to chase after them. If they had remained in guard, Lacey would have no way of sneaking past them to enter the edifice, but nope. Her glitter addiction had gotten the best of her. Lola could not stand even looking at glitter ever since.  
  
The pageant queen released another forlorn sigh, still blaming herself for ruining the dream of her second-best friend. She has to make it up to Jane, and the only way to do it is to encourage her to start doing ballet again and convince her that people like Lacey and Mrs. Damocles are wrong and that she can be as good as a skinny ballerina. She also has to think of another way to gather evidence that will expose Mrs. Damocles as a person prejudiced against overweight individuals. It's the only way she can get rid of the guilt dwelling in her thoughts.  
  
Suddenly, a news broadcast had interrupted a princess cartoon that Lola was watching, startling her into a sitting situation. Her eyes are glued to the TV screen as Katherine Mulligan appears on the screen along with text on the bottom that states, "Discrimination In Ballet Class?" The words had puzzled Lola. What did they mean by "discrimination in ballet class"? Then, thoughts of Mrs. Damocles came to mind. Was Mrs. Damocles finally exposed as a fat shamer?  
  
"Good evening, Royal Woods!" Katherine Mulligan greeted her viewers. "I hope you all are having a great evening. If you are, then I apologize because your great evening is about to be ruined with this shocking story! Apparently, there had been reports from outraged parents of discrimination within a ballet class led by a former ballet instructor named Amelia Damocles."  
  
As Katherine said the ballet instructor's name, a picture of Mrs. Damocles smiling at the camera appears on the top right corner of the screen.  
  
"Just an hour ago, Mrs. Damocles was fired by her executive after she admitted that she unfairly rejected students from her class based on their weight, height, disability, and gender identity. More specifically, the students that were wrongfully not accepted were said to be overweight, short, disabled, or transgender, indicating that the students Mrs. Damocles only accepted are thin, tall, non-disabled, and cisgender. So not only was it one form of discrimination, but it was four in one! Can you believe it, people?! This is proof that our beautiful town isn't safe from prejudice and discrimination."  
  
Lola could not believe her ears. The news had just reported that Mrs. Damocles was fired by her boss for not only being a fat shamer but also a heightist, an ableist, and a transphobe. Her sadness and guilt were immediately replaced by happiness. She turned her attention away from the television and hollered at her siblings:  
  
"GUYS! COME DOWN HERE QUICK! YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS!"  
  
Almost instantly, the siblings came downstairs to the living room, some of them annoyed and others confused.  
  
"What's the problem now?" Lana asked, irked.  
  
"Lemme guess. The TV isn't working and you're being a baby about it," Lynn scoffed.  
  
"No!" Lola points at the TV. "Look at the TV! Look what the news is talking about!"  
  
As ordered, the siblings looked at the television, and what they saw left their mouths wide open. On-screen, Katherine Mulligan is naming the girls that were unjustly rejected by Mrs. Damocles while showing pictures of said girls. Then, Katherine named the next girl and showed her picture. The girl is brown-haired and light-tan-skinned. She is none other than Jane Fitzgerald. After naming Jane, Katherine went back to discussing Mrs. Damocles as her picture reappears on screen, shocking the siblings even more.  
  
"I literally can't believe my eyes," said Lori.  
  
"Mrs. Damocles is finally fired?!" Lincoln exclaimed.  
  
"YES!" Lola cheered. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I knew it! I knew that Jane would not give up on her dream! I knew it!"  
  
"According to the information the news journalist is informing us," Lisa began as she watches the news, "not only was it weight discrimination but also height discrimination, disability discrimination, and transgender discrimination because the girls that were named were overweight, short, non-disabled, and transgender."  
  
"So it wasn't just one but four?!" Lynn exclaimed.  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"But who exposed Mrs. Damocles for who she really is, and how did he or she do it?" Lincoln asked curiously.  
  
"I want to find out, too!" Lola said. "If I find that person, I'll give him or her a big thumbs up for finally putting that dumb, disgraceful teacher down! And if it's Jane, then I'll be proud of her because she is too strong to give in to people like Mrs. Damocles! She will never let anyone put her down because of her weight! Never!"


	11. Lacey's Lesson

The next day at school, Jane enters the cafeteria carrying her lunch bag---since it is lunchtime---with a proud look on her face. Last night, her parents went to Mrs. Damocles' ballet class and complained to her about unfairly rejecting Jane based on her size instead of her skills, and the evening news had revealed to Royal Woods Mrs. Damocles' true colors as well as her termination from her career. Her plan to finally fire the former ballet teacher and expose her discriminatory beliefs was a success. As Jane approaches the table where Lola and her friends are currently sitting at, she can hear other students talking about the news last night. Some were shocked that discrimination exists in Royal Woods while others condemned Mrs. Damocles for her actions. Just listening to these conversations while casually walking toward her friends made her feel more proud. The good guy had won, and the bad guy had lost.  
  
At last, Jane finally reached her friends' table. Lola and the other pageant children immediately beamed with delight as they saw their favorite chubby princess sit down next to them.  
  
"JANE!" they cheered.  
  
"Hello, girls," Jane said proudly.  
  
"I am so happy about you right now!" exclaimed Lola.  
  
"We watched the news yesterday! Mrs. Damocles got fired for discriminating against students based on weight, height, disability, and gender identity!" said Jackie.  
  
"Those poor children," said Chinah, feeling pity. "It really makes me nauseous that there are people who judge others based on what group they belong to and not for who they are."  
  
"Yeah!" Adelaide agreed. "It's like Mrs. Damocles rejecting me for being mixed-race!"  
  
"Shame on Mrs. Damocles for what she'd done!" exclaimed Meli.  
  
"And speaking of Mrs. Damocles, how did you expose her for who she really is?" asked Lola.  
  
"Simple. I told my parents about it," Jane replied.  
  
"HUH?!" the girls are confused.  
  
"Yeah. I told them. And trust me, girl. They were not happy. After explaining to them what happened at the tryouts, they went to the dance building to complain about it to Mrs. Damocles. Turns out, her boss was there as well as other ticked-off parents, and she was forced to confess. End of story," Jane explained.  
  
"Woah," Lola is impressed. "I never expected that. I thought you went secret agent and spied on her before going to the news station."  
  
"Girl, do you really think I'll be dumb enough to commit the same mistake again?"  
  
"She's got a point there," Roxanne whispered to Lola's ear.  
  
"Turns out, I did receive the justice I deserve after all," Jane stated proudly.  
  
"YOU!" a familiar voice hollered at Jane.  
  
Before Jane can react, she is suddenly grabbed by her gown and pulled towards Lacey's face, her hate-filled eyes looking straight at Jane's.  
  
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT! THANKS TO YOUR PARENTS WHINING ABOUT MY GRAND-AUNT, SHE IS FIRED FROM HER JOB AND IS NO LONGER A BALLET TEACHER! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT SHE IS ALSO BLACKLISTED! MEANING SHE CAN NO LONGER BE IN CHARGE OF ANY OF THE CHILDREN'S EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS EVER AGAIN! I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY THAT YOU RECEIVED THE 'JUSTICE' YOU 'TRULY DESERVE', BUT LEMME TELL YOU THIS, FITZGERALD. YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO BOTH THE BALLERINA COMMUNITY AND THE HEALTH COMMUNITY. FUTURE YOUNG BALLERINAS WILL NOW THINK IT'S OKAY TO BE FAT BALLERINAS AS LONG AS YOU ARE ON STAGE! I HOPE YOU'RE CONTENT WITH PROMOTING OBESITY AND MAKING IT HARDER FOR HEALTH OFFICIALS TO FIGHT THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC!"  
  
Jane is completely unfazed by Lacey's tirade. She knew that Lacey would be upset about her grand-aunt losing her profession and blame her for it. She grabs Lacey's arms and yanks them out of her gown, releasing herself. Jane then lets out a sigh before giving her own speech:  
  
"I'll admit. Some of the things said before you kicked my friends and me out of your aunt's class yesterday were true. Being fat IS unhealthy, and it shouldn't be promoted. It is also sometimes the person's own fault for becoming overweight or obese for making the wrong choices; heck, I'm one of them. Up until I was four years old, I had eaten lots and lots of junk food which caused me to gain weight. So yes, I have made some poor choices back then, and I absolutely have no excuse for having this body. However, becoming fat isn't always the result of laziness or poor health choices. There are some bigger people that have illnesses that make it harder for them to lose weight; there are also people who suffer from a binge-eating disorder which, if the name itself isn't obvious, can cause extreme weight gain, and let's not forget about the people that are naturally bigger or curvy and those that are working hard to lose the pounds. Heck, some overweight people are already healthy! Take Jessamyn Stanley for example! She's as chubby as I am, and she can do yoga! I know it sounds BS, but there's proof that she does yoga on the internet, so google her. And she's not the only one. There are countless others that are living in healthy lifestyles, and that doesn't sound like they're promoting obesity. So saying that all fat people are lazy and make excuses is a very ignorant thing to say because you're ignoring those that suffer from illnesses and psychological disorders that either cause difficulties for weight loss or cause extreme weight gain, and those that are finally making the right choices or are already healthy in technical terms, and those that are naturally plus size. Also, fat-shaming doesn't work; in fact, it makes it worse. Don't believe me? Look it up. It tells you why fat-shaming isn't helpful. If you want people to lose weight, then encourage them to make healthier choices instead of shaming them for making unhealthy choices. With all that said, you're the one that's truly a disgrace, and you should be ashamed of yourself for being the bully that you are, so why don't you take your prejudiced, bratty attitude somewhere else and leave."  
  
After listening to Jane's long, motivational speech, Lacey's face turned red with anger before letting out a loud scream of rage and unadulterated hatred. Finally, she runs off, still enraged.  
  
"Woah. I've never seen that bratty snob that angry before," Chinah commented.  
  
"Yeah. I bet she'll throw a temper tantrum somewhere," Patty joked.  
  
The pageant gang burst out laughing.  
  
"And that was a great speech you gave to Lacey!" Lindsey complimented.  
  
"Thanks. I had to get that out of my system somehow," said Jane. "So, who wants to do a makeover at the pageant club after school?"


	12. The Ballerina Championship

Four days had passed since Mrs. Damocles was fired from her career as a ballet instructor for unfairly rejecting ballerinas on the basis of weight, height, disability, and gender identity. Since then, Mr. Madison had to cancel ballet class for the rest of the week and postpone the Ballerina Championship so he can have time to hire a new teacher that is not prejudiced like Mrs. Damocles. During these tough times, Mr. Madison was still distraught over how Mrs. Damocles, who was once one of his best employees, lied to him about choosing the right students for the class. This whole time Mrs. Damocles was prejudiced against overweight, short, disabled, and transgender girls. Such thoughts made him worried that the next teacher might be just as prejudiced as Mrs. Damocles, but he cannot say for sure until he meets her, so he tried his hardest to forget about Mrs. Damocles. Eventually, by Thursday he had found a new teacher and hired her for the job.  
  
During a Friday afternoon, the second tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship are once again taking place inside the gymnasium of Royal Woods Park. A girl around seven years of age had just finished her performance, and the judges, which included Frida Casagrande who is the new ballet instructor, and the other ballerinas began clapping for her.  
  
" _Bravo! Bravissimo_!" Frida shouted with praise as she applauded.  
  
The girl takes a bow at the judges, feeling proud of her performance. As the applauding ceased, Frida tells the girl:  
  
"You've done a great job, Patricia! You definitely have the skills of a professional ballet dancer! But do you think you have what it takes to compete in the competition four weeks from now?"  
  
Patricia nodded, avoiding eye contact with Frida due to her feeling nervous.  
  
"I thought so," said Frida. "Also, you said you have autism, right?"  
  
"Y-yes," Patricia stuttered.  
  
"Well, if you think I'm gonna reject you because you have autism, you thought wrong. I don't care if you're disabled or overweight or whatnot. To me, a ballerina is a ballerina, and you definitely have the potential to be in my class," Frida reassured. "Thank you for your performance."  
  
Once again, the judges and the ballerinas began clapping as Patricia smiled proudly. Then, she walks back to where the crowd of ballerinas diverse in body shapes and sizes are at.  
  
Frida looks at her long list and clears her throat, "Now, our next contestant is...Jane Fitzgerald!"  
  
For the third time, the ballerinas and the judges start clapping as Jane smiles warmly. She looks back at Lola, who gives her a thumbs up, and then at the judges, who are patiently waiting for her, before approaching the space where the ballerinas will do their performance. Next, she looks at the judges again, who are smiling at her, feeling hopeful that she can do it.  
  
"Alright, Jane. Let us know if you're ready," Frida told the pretty plump princess.  
  
Jane nodded. She is definitely ready. After a few moments of taking deep breaths, she finally starts her routine. Jane begins her performance with lifting her right leg up to ninety degrees while lifting both arms and spreading them apart while holding both hands together. Then, she makes a small leap towards the left while her arms are still separated and hands still held together. Next, she makes a bigger leap towards the right and twirls in midair before landing on one foot. She then puts her other foot down and lifts both the back of her feet, standing on tippy toes.  
  
As Jane stands on her toes, the scene transitions from in front of Jane to behind her, revealing a huge audience watching her ballet performance with cameras taking pictures of her from a distance. The scene had transitioned four weeks into the future to the date of the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championships, and Jane is now participating in the championship. As if still in the tryouts four weeks ago, Jane does a pilé, bending her knees. Then, she makes a leg and spreads her legs to make a perfect one-hundred-eighty-degree straight line before landing on her feet. Next, Jane does a total of impressive twenty fouetté turns. For the final touch, Jane performs a grande jeté, a big jump from one foot to the other that, from the audience's view, looked like Jane had shot her foot up into the air. Finally, she makes a safe landing and faces the audience, smiling. Her performance has come to an end.  
  
The audience immediately roared with cheer and applause as they congratulated Jane for her spectacular performance. The judges lifted up signs marked with 10 and showed them to Jane as the applauding intensified. Jane beamed with delight as she saw the scores, knowing she received the perfect scores. After viewing the scores, she looks at the audience and takes a bow. Even though Jane is not a professional ballet dancer yet, she definitely feels like one now. No matter how much hate she might receive due to her weight, she will just ignore them or use those hateful comments as a motivation to prove the haters wrong. Jane is proud of her ballet skills, and she is proud of breaking the stereotype.

**THE END**


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